


Daughter of Gallifrey

by Gatefanwho



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Animated GIFs, Crossover, F/F, Lesbian Rey, Novella, Post-Episode: s04e06 The Doctor's Daughter, Romantic Fluff, The Force Awakens Retelling, Time Travel, Work In Progress, epic story, story-focused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-04 01:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15830556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gatefanwho/pseuds/Gatefanwho
Summary: Rey's life as a scavenger in the ship graveyards of Jakku never changes, until the day she finds a ship with the beautiful female pilot still alive and onboard. The pilot's name is Jenny, and she claims she can travel through time. She soon takes Rey with her on the adventure of Rey's lifetime. But the evil First Order isn't far behind.





	1. The Greatest Salvage of Her Life

 

On the desert world of Jakku, hopeful excitement was scarcer than water. Yet that exact emotion fluttered in Rey's stomach as she brought her speeder to a gentle stop, gazing upwards at the crashed ship.

Its teardrop-shaped hull gleamed in the bright sun: a design unlike any she'd seen before. She assumed the craft was some sort of primitive rocket; the odd fins located on its aft seemed more appropriate for ballistic flight than true space flight.

Its uniqueness intrigued her, of course, but it was the ship's newness and completeness that excited her. For a scavenger like herself, nothing could compare with finding a ship whole, intact, and fresh off the assembly line. The ship's intact state was all the more remarkable for having crashed onto the planet, a mystery that piqued her interest further.

Rey hopped off her speeder, grimacing as her boots sank into the ubiquitous sand. Staff strapped to her back and pack hanging from her hip, she trudged determinedly forward. Practically salivating at the sight of the looming shiny rocket craft, she stared through her protective goggles at what might be the biggest find of her life.

Slowly circling the ship, she smiled at the mismatched grooves in its hull plating, a sign of manual, sentient labor. Her fingers traced the bumps and grooves of the manufacturer tag tucked away near the ship's aft. Thruster engines jutted from the rear of the spacecraft like fat lumps, the sight of which caused her to shake her head in amusement at this ship's oddly unique design.

Rey's mouth continued to stretch in a hungry grin until she saw it: On the ship's port side, a tiny, sand-smeared window revealed a cramped cockpit nestled near the middle of the ship, and inside that cockpit was the slumped form of an unmoving woman.

Rey's entire countenance transformed. She could feel the grim lines of resolve and tenacity settling into her face. Pulse increasing, her hands flexed and her calf muscles tensed in readiness.

'I should have known better,' she thought, 'an unguarded ship this new must either have been abandoned, or still occupied.'

Uttering several curse words as dry and hostile as the barren wastes of this desert world, she began searching for a way into the ship's cockpit.

Her fingertips grazed the hot metal of the ship's hull for a seemingly endless amount of time before Rey found what she was looking for: A deep, narrow groove bisecting the front half of the ship.

As she suspected, this ship used a primitive, almost homespun design more likely to be found on the edges of Wild Space rather than the Inner Rim. Rough atmospheric reentry could easily break the ship's external seals and few of the other identifiable components looked to be in any better shape. Luckily for the pilot still inside the thing, this meant the cockpit could be forced open if enough leverage and pressure were applied.

Well, luckily for the pilot if she's even still alive, Rey thought darkly.

Wedging her staff into the groove, Rey placed a boot against the lower half of the ship's front and pushed down on her staff. She gritted her teeth and pushed harder, fingers gripping the weapon tightly in her hands. Rey knew she could easily crack the polearm by using it in such a way. But she didn't stop. The female pilot inside might still be alive.

Her staff didn't break, and at last the cockpit roof separated from the ship's lower half, grinding slowly open like a happabore's lazy yawn.

Tossing her staff onto the ground, Rey climbed into the cockpit.

Cramped walls enclosed a chair big enough for only one person, and in the chair sat the young woman. She appeared young, perhaps no older than Rey, herself. Her eyes were closed, the rest of her face frozen in a rictus of pain. A nasty gash curved along her forehead, where dried blood painted the skin and stained her hairline.

Rey's hand hastily reached out and pressed onto the woman's neck, searching for a pulse. She soon found one beating steadily beneath her fingertips and exhaled in momentary relief. Still, the desert wasn't the place for an unconscious, injured female.

She took a moment to study the girl further. Her long blond hair hung from a simple ponytail that ran just past her shoulders. Her head currently tilted at an awkward angle, exposing a scrape surrounded by an ugly, darkening bruise that ran down the length of her neck. She wore a green tank top, black shorts, and high black boots.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Rey found herself staring at the young woman's face. Sharp features and delicate curves, a petite nose and soft-appearing lips, and the fairest skin Rey had ever seen gave the girl an aura of innocence Rey never imagined finding on Jakku. It fascinated her, she fascinated her, and she had to shake herself out of her entrancement and remind herself that this woman needed her help.

Rey had just begun fumbling with the girl's harness when the woman suddenly jerked and began coughing, startling Rey. Taking a step back, she watched, holding her breath as the other woman's eyes fluttered open.

"Wh-where, where..." the young woman asked, voice dry and rasping.

"Shh, shh, it's okay," Rey murmured reassuringly, uncertain what else to say. Worry squeezed her gut tightly as the woman struggled to move. "I'm here to help you. What's your name?"

"J-Jenny," the young woman croaked hoarsely. "Name's Jenny... I..."

Then her eyes slid shut again and her chin dropped onto her chest as she fell back into unconsciousness.

'I need to move faster,' Rey thought.

While searching for a way to loosen the girl's safety harness, Rey caught sight of the interior of the ship. An internal component or system of some kind must've overloaded, the resulting exploding having driven shrapnel into the walls and floor. One of those thick shrapnel chunks planted itself between the cockpit and the rest of the ship, probably saving the woman's life. Now that she'd begun to examine the ship with a closer eye, the acrid scent of chemicals and the growing pools of mechanical fluids added a new sense of urgency to her task.

'Best not stay here any longer than I have to,' she told herself.

Hands quickly returning to their task, Rey finally succeeded in unfastening the safety harness.

She slid her arms beneath Jenny's back and knees and used her strong legs to heave the woman out of her seat. The task might've been far more difficult had the woman not been so short and slender. Teeth clenched with the exertion of lifting her burden, Rey carried the woman several steps from the ship and laid her on the ground.

Anxiously, Rey examined the woman for any other injuries, hands deftly running up and down Jenny's form. Aside from the long, red cut on the side of the woman's head, and the subsequently red-stained hairline, Rey found only a collection of purpling bruises and a few minor cuts. As far as she could tell, the woman had no broken bones. The head wound worried her, however; it was possible she may have suffered a serious concussion.

After placing her staff on her back, she hauled the young woman into her arms again and carried her to her speeder. Her muscles strained to carry the woman's weight, but a few minutes and minor struggles later, Rey managed to seat Jenny behind her on the speeder. She strapped the woman's body to her own.

'Maybe I can stay a little longer and salvage something,' Rey mused. But even as she thought it, she knew it couldn't be. Rey had to get the young woman back to shelter, food and water. Out in the open desert, she wouldn't last long; either the heat or the hunters of Jakku, animals and people alike, would claim her.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Rey powered her speeder to life and zoomed across the sea of blazing hot sand, leaving the greatest salvage of her life untouched behind her.


	2. Skirmish in the Sand

 

It was late afternoon by the time Rey parked her speeder in front of the four-legged, armored walker she called her home. The half-buried, derelict war machine lay on its side in the sand, a relic from the final battle waged between the Empire and the burgeoning New Republic nearly thirty years before. The AT-AT might've once been the terror of ground engagements, but now its thick armor found use not in protecting the troopers held within the transport, but in protecting Rey from the sandstorms of Jakku.

Disengaging the straps that held Jenny's body against hers, Rey slowly dismounted from the speeder, taking care to avoid jostling the injured young woman. Once she'd found a relatively stable balance with which she could hold Jenny, the scavenger began a slow pace toward her shelter.

As she approached the entrance to her home, she glanced down at the woman in her arms and grimaced. At some point, the cut on Jenny's forehead had reopened, and like all scalp wounds, was bleeding profusely. Blood trickled from it and sprinkled the sand in Rey's wake. Though she knew the cut and the blood were likely to be superficial, she walked faster, anxious to treat the wound.

Once inside the internal compartment that functioned as both kitchen and bedroom, Rey gently laid the young woman upon a makeshift hammock in the corner. Looking down at the blond woman's limp form, she quickly tightened the knots that held it secure.

'Wouldn't do to have my patient panic and fling her concussed self onto the metal floor, now would it?' she mused.

After taking off her goggles, staff, and pack, Rey spent the next several minutes hunting down a ragged strip of cloth and wrapping it tightly around the young woman's head wound.

Once her work was complete, Rey finally allowed herself to relax.

She turned from the hammock and busied herself with preparing a food portion. Soon the food was inflating into existence inside its bowl. She fished it out and held it in her fingers, licking her lips. Her mouth watered as she stared at the fluffy, bready ration. It was her last one, and she wouldn't have time to find anything of value from the Graveyard of Ships that day to trade for more.

Despite the hunger gnawing at her belly, she couldn't help but glance guiltily over her shoulder at Jenny's limp form. Sighing disappointedly, Rey knew she had to save the ration for her injured guest. Who knew the last time the injured girl had eaten?

Rey's mind boiled with curiosity about this young woman named Jenny. Although Rey couldn't leave Jakku until her long lost family came back for her, that didn't stop her from dreaming of the myriad of planets and moons she'd heard spacers describe. Which one of them had Jenny come from? Why had she crashed? Where in the galaxy did she get such a backworld ship? As a resident of Jakku, her incredulity was especially notable when one took that junk heap Unkar Plutt kept around into consideration.

Rey examined the younger woman with renewed interest. Even after a more thorough study, Rey still didn't think the girl was any older than her. Her body was lean and slender, but muscular in a way that mirrored Rey's own form. With a pang of envy, Rey couldn't keep herself from staring at the young woman's full breasts hidden beneath her form-fitting green tank top.

Ashamed at her lingering stare, Rey returned her attention to the girl's petite face. Her fair skin glowed softly in the compartment's dim internal lighting, giving her an almost ethereal aura. She appeared so peaceful, Rey worried she might never wake up.

"Where did you come from?" Rey whispered.

To her surprise, she realized the fingers of her hand had begun stroking the young girl's cheek. Noting the softness of the girl's skin, she pulled her hand away in embarrassment.

Clenching her teeth in frustration, she grabbed her staff and left the compartment. Climbing onto the roof of her home, she stared out over the wastes of Jakku and wondered, as she often did, when her family would be coming back. This time, however, she also contemplated something, someone, new and what changes she might bring to her life.

The sun hung low on the horizon when she first heard the bestial growls coming from the shadows in front of the walker.

A sick feeling overtook her when she saw a pack of six hound-lizards stalking toward the entrance to her home. Long snouts sniffing the stained sand, the predators crept closer, rough tongues lapping at every patch of sand laced with Jenny's blood. Already, one of the lizards was shuffling closer as it followed the blood trail, mere paces away from the walker's entrance.

Silently, she cursed herself for her carelessness. She should have known better than to leave a trail of blood leading straight to her front door.

Rey inhaled deeply, her heart beating faster as adrenaline began pumping through her veins. Sometimes the hound-lizards of Jakku could be frightened off, if one was intimidating enough.

Taking a running leap from the AT-AT, she landed in a roll, nimbly flowing to her feet and assuming a protective stance in front of her home's entryway. She shouted out a battle cry and waved her staff over her head with both hands.

The hair on the hound-lizards' bristled, their eyes widened, and they bared their dagger-like teeth in feral snarls. But they didn't retreat.

Apparently, she wasn't intimidating enough today.

Fear coursing through her, she shouted wordlessly and swung her staff into the head of the nearest hound-lizard. She knocked its body onto its side in the sand.

Whipping the staff back into her hands, she brought her staff into a defensive position just as another hound-lizard leaped toward her. Rearing back onto its hind legs, it swiped at her face with razor-sharp claws. Rey deftly blocked the creature's attack with her polearm, planted her feet and pushed the overbalanced creature off its feet, catapulting the hairy beast through the air.

Now the hounds attacked in quick formation, three more leaping at her in unison. Crying out in rage and distress, she ducked and rolled beneath them. She rose rapidly to her feet and swung her rod viciously down onto the spine of the nearest hound-lizard. Bones cracked under the force of the blow, sending the hound snout first into the sand with a muted whimper.

Sensing danger near her left flank, she hopped to the side and felt air whisk past her calf. The hound-lizard there completed its paw swipe and followed through the motion, kicking out with its hind leg. She stumbled in retreat.

Before she knew it, two more of the creatures were already in mid-pounce, blurs of dark fur rocketing toward her. She rolled beneath them, scrambled to her feet, and swung the end of her staff into one's hind leg. Again she heard the crack of splintering bones. She spared a glance at the whimpering hound-lizard, dragging itself across the sand in an effort to escape before turning her attention back to the threat.

The remaining hound-lizards, including the one she'd stunned before, had formed a circle around her. Their snarls were louder than ever, slavering as they bared their fangs.

Rey's heart pounded in her chest as she confronted a veritable wall of tooth and claw. She knew her last thought before being torn to pieces would be regret for not meeting her family when they returned to find her.

Without any warning, one of the hound-lizards was blown off its feet, rolling through the sand until it lay unmoving in the dirt, a gaping, smoking hole in its side.

Whipping her head around, Rey was astonished to find Jenny, standing upright with her arm raised, a blaster-like object zeroed in on their unwelcome guests. The blond woman swung the pistol in an arc, squeezing the trigger and sending energy bolts streaking through the air.

Having seen enough brawls escalate into firefights, Rey instinctively crouched low to the ground to avoid getting shot. She watched the bolts fly over and around her, surprised by the deadly accuracy with which Jenny wielded her odd blaster.

Pivoting, the blond girl brought her arm swiftly through the air, picking targets and firing in the blink of an eye. In what felt like half a heartbeat, her shots pegged the three remaining hounds one after another. Within almost no time, none of the hounds remained standing. The ones Rey had downed still twitched on the ground, but not for long: The young woman strode forward and shot any hound-lizard that moved point blank in the head as she walked.

Breathing deeply both to calm herself and catch her breath, Rey eyed the blue and violet pistol in the girl's hand. Blasters weren't exactly a rarity on Jakku, but she'd never seen one as exotic as Jenny's. She gazed at the firearm's thin body and flat edges, marveling at how so small a weapon packed such large a punch.

Then there was Jenny herself: awake at her eyes were steady and focused, her feet faltered and her legs visibly shook with each step. Beads of sweat were rolling down the girl's face, but Rey wasn't sure if it was due to the heat of the Jakku sun or the lingering weakness in the girl's body from the crash.

Trusting her instincts, Rey rushed to the girl's side just in time to catch her by the shoulder before she collapsed into the sand. She placed a hand on the small of the Jenny's back to steady her. Jenny hung her arm over Rey's shoulders and leaned on her for support.

"Well this is complete rubbish," huffed Jenny, staring down at her trembling legs. "I'm not making a very impressive entrance am I?"

Chuckling slightly at the other girl's comment, Rey glanced meaningfully at the lifeless, smoking hound-lizard bodies.

"Yeah," Rey said, summoning some rare sarcasm, "not impressive at all."

The blond woman chuckled, too. Easing her weight off of Rey, Jenny stood on her own feet, trying to gauge her strength. Her legs still wobbled, but...

"I...I think I can do..." she began but immediately fell into Rey once again.

"You need to rest some more," Rey explained. "You took quite the hit on the head, and I don't know how long you were in that ship before I found you. Some food and water would do you some good as well, I imagine."

The other girl's eyes widened as Rey's words registered. "My ship! I need to get back to it!"

"Not tonight," Rey replied firmly. "In the morning, maybe, if you're actually up to it."

"But I have a..." the girl's voice trailed off.

"Let's get you back inside," Rey interjected.

They made their way back to the overturned imperial walker, Rey guiding and supporting Jenny every step of the way.

Glancing at the blaster swinging from the end of Jenny's arm, Rey was unable to hold in her curiosity any longer.

"Where were you keeping that thing?" Rey asked. "I didn't see any sign of it on you when I found you, and you don't appear to have many pockets in those clothes."

Jenny gave her a mischievous look and chuckled. "I usually keep that answer pretty close to the chest, if you take my meaning." She tapped the pistol lightly against the front of her tank top a couple times, then winked at Rey.

Rey stumbled in her steps and stared at the other girl in astonishment.. "You had it hidden in there?"

"Well, it's as safe a place as any, isn't it?" Jenny replied. "Unless they're a super perv, anyone who frisks me isn't likely to dig too deeply in there, are they?"

The nonchalance of the girl's explanation elicited a wild grin from Rey, who was unable to stop herself from shaking her head in mild disbelief.

Guiding Jenny back into the walker's compartment and the waiting hammock, Rey carefully helped Jenny climb inside to rest.

Jenny squirmed to make herself comfortable and placed her hands on her stomach, letting out a deep sigh of contentment, gun still clutched in one hand.

"Here," Rey offered, proffering the leftover bread ration. "Eat this; doesn't taste like much, but it'll fill you up."

Jenny complied eagerly, stuffing the ration into her mouth and munching it down within only a few moments. Satisfied, she flopped back into the hammock.

Despite her initial hesitation, Rey was unable to stop herself from asking, "What happened to your ship? What are you doing on Jakku?"

But already the other girl's eyelids were closing as exhaustion caught up with her.

"I...I got shot down," Jenny mumbled. "Some bloody...enormous triangular ship did it."

"The First Order," Rey guessed darkly. "They're always out for blood."

"Can't blame...them this time," Jenny murmured, her voice nearly a whisper. "My ship emerged on a collision...course with theirs. Was about to run smack into them."

"Really?" Rey asked, interested.

"Y-yeah," Jenny breathed so quietly Rey had to lean in to hear.

Then the other girl's eyes closed and she lay silently in the hammock, unmoving aside from the gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath.

Rey watched her for several more minutes, a myriad of emotions swirling within. Retrieving the single threadbare blanket she owned from its corner, she draped it over Jenny, careful not to wake her.

Returning the staff to its proper position on her back, she returned to the area in front of her home and began cleaning up the mess. One by one she hauled the hound-lizards' corpses to the top of a steep, nearby dune and kicked them over its edge, sending their lifeless bodies rolling down the tall dune. She did her best to scatter and cover up any remaining blood in front of the walker, (Jenny's blood and the hound-lizards'). When she finished, she cleaned her arms and hands using chemicals from a tub stored in the walker's overturned cockpit.

Afterward, she came inside once more and checked briefly on the peacefully slumbering form of Jenny. Then she huddled next to her power and heat source, closed her eyes and tried to ignore the chill from the darkening desert night that managed to seep through the metal walls of the AT-AT and make her shiver.


	3. Jenny's Offer

 

When Jenny awoke the next morning, her head still throbbed painfully but not nearly as bad as yesterday. She sat slowly up in bed, noting the thin, worn blanket lying on top of her. Early morning sunlight shone through the chamber's open doorway, giving the place a homely feel. The girl who rescued her was gone.

Jenny placed her feet on the floor and climbed gingerly out of the hammock, doing her best not to aggravate the pounding in her head.

She held her pistol in front of her face, idly twirling it between her fingers. She considered returning it to its hiding spot in her shirt, but quickly remembered the encounter with those reptile-dog things the night before, and decided she might need the pistol again very soon. She flicked on the safety and slid the weapon into the right hip pocket of her shorts, where it was easily available.

She walked through the odd chamber to the exit, observing the rickety walls, worn cabling, and machinery inside.

When she stood in front of the exit, she put her hands on her hips and gazed out at the expanse of sand and dunes. Despite the barren sight and the dry heat already encroaching on her, she grinned.

Another world, she thought to herself! Jenny still hadn't tired of exploring new planets, even after a month of knocking around the universe. This life, the life her father also lived, invigorated and intoxicated her like lunar wine from the fields of Ama Neld. Gratefully, she breathed the harsh, dusty air into her dried-out nose and mouth.

"Mmm!' she moaned. "Marvelous!"

Sand shifted and crunched nearby as the girl from before stepped into view.

"So you're awake," the young woman said to Jenny.

Her expression remained neutral, but Jenny noticed a quivering gleam behind her eyes. Jenny knew that gleam well, it was the same gleam she often saw in her own reflection's eyes.

Jenny studied the girl with leisure, She stood taller than Jenny, though that wasn't unusual. She wore an assortment of off-white, beige, and taupe clothing that resembled pieces of robes, or the bed curtains Jenny had seen on her travels. An overdress covered a close-fitting undershirt that hugged a lean, slender body. Arm wraps covered portions of her arms. The staff she'd used so formidably the night before rested on her back. She wore boots suited to this sandy climate, and a pair of short pants that showed off athletic, toned calf muscles. The girl's skin had been darkened by the sun but remained surprisingly light. Dark hair and an angular, sculpted face gave her an air of solitary beauty, and Jenny found herself staring at the other girl in fascination.

"Here, drink this," the girl said.

She handed Jenny a full canteen. As Jenny took the flasket, she realized how thirsty she truly was. She brought the jug to her lips and chugged. The water inside tasted metallic and grainy, but delicious to her parched lips and tongue just the same.

Only after she'd trained two-thirds of the canteen did it occur to her they were in a desert, and perhaps the other girl might like some water too. Sheepishly she lowered the canteen, wiped her lips, and held the canteen out to the other girl.

"Thanks," Jenny said. "Better take your share soon, or I'll drink the whole thing."

"Go ahead," the young woman said. "I'll be fine."

Jenny gazed at the girl's weathered skin, her lean build, and her stoic posture. 'Yeah,' Jenny thought, 'she'll probably be just fine.'

Without a second thought, Jenny downed the rest of the water.

"How are you feeling?" the girl asked after taking the canteen from Jenny.

"I think I'll get quite the lump," Jenny answered, gesturing to the bandage on her forehead. "Moving about doesn't feel too great. But I think I'll live." She felt a warm smile of gratitude spread across her face. "Thanks to you. You saved my life, and I don't even know your name."

The other girl flashed her own sheepish grimace, but a hint of resolve and boldness nested behind it. "My name's Rey."

"Ah, what a nice name. Like from the sun?" Jenny asked, already noting how well the name suited her.

The other girl's face scrunched up. "No, not quite."

She strode past Jenny and stood in front of a wall where hundreds of tally marks had been scrawled. She rose up on her tiptoes, muscled calves flexing, and pointed to a spot high in the corner.

"See, like this," the young woman said to Jenny.

Moving closer, Jenny squinted at the spot. Written in teeny tiny letters was a word. The translation circuit Jenny had implanted in her scalp took the alien writing and shifted it before her eyes:

Rey.

'Aha,' thought Jenny.

"Well, nice to meet you, Rey. I owe you one for saving my life." She eyed the rows of tally marks. "Can I ask you what all those marks represent?"

Rey folded her arms, and Jenny's fighting instincts told her the other woman had become suddenly defensive.

"Just keeping track of time," Rey answered. "That's all."

"Alright," said Jenny, dropping the subject even though she wanted to know more.

Now, I..." Jenny continued. She glanced around in mild embarrassment before asking, "Is there a toilet nearby?"

Rey nodded. "There's a refresher station out back," she said graciously. "I'm not sure where you're from, but it's not much of one. I bought it in place of a day's rations years ago. I have to fix it every other day, and it's extremely hot inside."

"I'll manage," Jenny assured her. "Be right back."

She could practically feel the other girl's eyes on her every movement as she turned and headed outside.

Rey was playing a game of string and spindle in an attempt to distract herself from her growling stomach and thirst-ridden mouth when Jenny returned from the refresher. Dropping the game on the floor, she stood quickly.

'Calm down,' she hissed at herself. 'What's gotten into you?'

But the same hopeful excitement she'd experienced when first laying eyes on Jenny's ship fluttered inside her stomach now as she looked at Jenny.

"Feeling better?" Rey asked because she couldn't think of anything else to say, almost immediately regretting her words.

Jenny chuckled. "Lots."

"So...your ship was quite unusual," Rey prompted, eager to change the subject, and extremely eager to learn more about this girl and where she came from.

"Yeah," Jenny agreed, strolling through the room with her hands behind her back, surveying the chamber's furnishings. "It used to be even more boring. I've had to make some...modifications."

"Where did you get it?" Rey asked.

Jenny idly nudged a stray power converter on the floor with her foot. She glanced up mischievously at Rey. "I...borrowed it. The current owners were too busy with other things and didn't have much use for it."

"Okay..." Rey didn't fail to notice the way Jenny said 'borrowed.' "Where are you..."

"Do you live here all by yourself?" Jenny interrupted. She was staring at the marked-up wall again. Rey glared at her, and Jenny averted her eyes from the wall guiltily.

"What if I do?" Rey questioned, squaring her shoulders and folding her arms defensively.

"Out here, in the desert, all on your own?" Jenny pressed.

"I can take care of myself," Rey said.

Jenny's eyes flicked up and down Rey's body, and she smirked. "I don't doubt that. I just mean it seems sort of lonely."

Suddenly she put a hand over her mouth and moaned. "Oh, I'm sorry, was that rude?" Jenny asked. "I'm still...not very good at conversations."

Rey's ire subsided quickly at the worried, stricken expression on Jenny's face. "Don't worry about it. I've heard plenty worse at the Niima Outpost on a good day."

"An outpost, huh?" said Jenny. "Why don't you live there?"

"Not a chance," Rey said, not bothering to hide her disgust as she thought of Unkar Plutt, the Outpost's lumpy, leering boss. "I prefer to keep to myself."

Jenny stared at her, half smirking. Finally she said. "Well, what about your family? Are they around?"

Rey's muscles tensed and she looked at the floor. "They're away right now. They'll be back soon though."

She hung onto her own words and willed them to be true.

Jenny was watching her closely. "Rey...I said I owed you for saving my life. How would you like to go on a trip? Just a short spin. We can pop off and be back in a couple days. You can take a break from...," she gestured with her arms to the walker's compartment, "from all this."

Rey laughed. "A short spin? In what? I'm sorry Jenny, but your ship won't be flying anytime soon."

"Maybe not," Jenny said. "But there's something inside." Her eyes twinkled briefly. "A piece of machinery that I can use to fix up another ship. Surely there's another ship around here I can buy."

Hating to be the bearer of bad news, Rey slowly explained, "I'm sorry, but your ship's probably been picked clean by now. This place is full of people like me who salvage downed ships and sell the parts."

Jenny's eyes widened. "What? No no no! We need to get back to my ship!"

Rey didn't like that idea. "You're not in the best condition to go out there." And I can't afford another day without some good salvage, Rey thought. "Besides, like I said, your ship's probably been pulled apart."

Jenny strode over to her. Rey stiffened instinctively, but didn't shy away from Jenny's touch when the other girl placed her hands on Rey's shoulders.

"Rey, I know you're not going to believe me, but that 'component' on my ship, it's special. Very special. Hard to come by. It's called a vortex manipulator. Or it used to be. I've modified it a bit."

Rey was transfixed by the sincerity and worry in Jenny's petite face. The hopeful, excited fluttering returned to her stomach.

"Vortex manipulator," Rey said, testing the words on her tongue. "What is that?"

Jenny paused before answering, "Well, Rey, it lets me travel through time."


	4. The Tragedy of Gallifrey

 

Ensign Arloe walked down the corridor leading to the Supreme Leader's chamber, while anticipation churned in his gut. His nerves waited on edge.

Kylo Ren stalked along the corridor beside him. The enigma of a man stared straight ahead through the metal mask he wore. Ensign Arloe had never seen Ren's face. In fact, he never spoke directly to him until this day. Now Ren was escorting him personally to an audience with the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Ensign Arloe could scarcely believe his luck.

The events had all happened so quickly, less than an hour ago. The bizarre unidentified rocket emerged into existence on a collision course with the Star Destroyer's Bridge. Ensign Arloe acted with lightning-quick reflexes. He knew his station controls like the back of his hand. He aimed the pulse from the ion cannon directly at the rocket ship. He scored a direct hit and watched in satisfaction as energy flares danced across the rocket's hull. Moments later, the unnamed craft drifted slowly downward toward the surface of Jakku, the pulse from the ion cannon and the loss of momentum from its thrusters changing its trajectory and most likely saving the lives of the Bridge crew.

Arloe received many hearty slaps on the back from fellow crew members after the incident. He didn't expect to receive much more recognition beyond that. He was content to have done his duty and proved himself in the eyes of his immediate superiors.

Imagine his surprise when, hours later, Kylo Ren requested his presence, and asked him to accompany Ren to the surface of Starkiller base, to the proxy throne room of Supreme Leader Snoke himself.

Now here Ensign Arloe was, stepping into the vast, shadowy chamber, ghostly light filtering down from above. He believed he was about to receive a personal commendation from the ultimate leader of the First Order. No experience could compare to this one, at least not for a long time.

Suddenly jittery and frightful, Ensign Arloe's nerves got the better of him. His pace slackened. He lagged behind Kylo Ren and let the masked man stalk farther ahead. He stared at the man's dark clothing and pondered on the powers he possessed, the ability to use the mystical energy source known as the Force to manipulate objects and even peer into other people's minds. Arloe shuttered in awe and terror. Everyone knew Kylo Ren was the Supreme Leader's enforcer, existing above and yet outside the chain of command within the First Order's military organization. But he walked among but the rank-and-file of the First Order. The Supreme Leader, on the other hand, rarely visited in person. Certainly Ensign Arloe never had a personal audience with him. This meeting, which would be facilitated via hologram, was the closest he would probably ever come.

He hadn't realized it, but they had already reached the huge throne. Kylo Ren stood silently for a moment, then knelt on one knee. Arloe quickly followed suit, dropping to his knees and lowering his head until his forehead almost touched the ground.

He heard the hum of the holographic projector switching on, and suddenly he panicked. He almost jumped to his feet and bolted from the chamber. He knew he wasn't worthy. He shouldn't be here. Not in the presence of the great Supreme Leader or his enforcer. But he concentrated on his heroic actions from earlier and managed to slow his breathing. His heart still thundered in his chest and his pulse still throbbed in his head, but he managed to remain where he was and wait.

"Arise," Supreme Leader Snoke's voice rumbled through the chamber.

Ensing Arloe stood on unsteady legs and looked up. He gasped and whimpered in surprise.

The holo of the Supreme Leader loomed over him. Arloe was certain the holo was three or four times bigger than the Supreme Leader's actual height: a literal giant projected into the room. His humanoid form was tall and gaunt, wearing a dark robe and an aged, worn, and grotesquely scarred face. Long, spindly fingers gripped the arms of the huge throne on which his holo sat. His eyes bored into Ensing Arloe with an intensity greater than a super laser.

He didn't know the Supreme Leader's species, only that he wasn't human. But his penetrating expression appeared just human enough to draw attention to its alienness, and the unsettling combo sent chills of horror seeping into Arloe's spine.

"This is the one?" Supreme Leader Snoke asked.

"He is," Kylo Ren responded, his voice converted into synthetic bass tones by his mask.

Arloe's shoulders jumped, startled, when Ren spoke. Snoke's presence managed to make him momentarily forget Ren was even there.

"Your name and rank," the Supreme Leader requested, motioning to Arloe with those long fingers.

Arloe gulped and moved his hands behind his back to hide their trembling. "Tieran Arloe, Ensign."

"Ensign, do you know why you have been summoned before me?" Snoke asked.

Hidden behind his back, Arloe's hands wrung each other in terrified anxiety. "I do not, My Lord."

Leader Snoke gestured graciously with his hand. "Please, tell me your best guess."

Arloe glanced uncertainly at Kylo Ren, but the man's mask offered no hints.

"I, I," Arloe swallowed again, forcing himself to calm down and only succeeded a fraction. "I believe it was because I saved the Finalizer's Bridge crew by using an ion cannon to disable an unidentified rocket that emerged from hyperspace on a collision course."

Snoke smirked in unmistakable condescension, and Arloe felt any excitement and pride that remained to control his terror begin to drain away.

Something was wrong. Arloe didn't know what, but he knew he'd miscalculated, assumed too much.

"In fact, that is exactly why you have been summoned," Snoke said. "Now tell me, Ensign, what happened to the rocket after you disabled it?"

Words wavering, Arloe answered. "It fell to the surface of Jakku, My Lord."

Snoke's fingers wrapped rhythmically on the arms of his throne. "And…"

Arloe's stomach seemed to be tying itself in knots. "I know nothing more about it, My Lord."

"Nothing?" Snoke said. "Nothing at all? You didn't bother to follow up?"

"But I'm only an Ensign," Arloe protested, unable to keep an air of defensiveness out of his voice. "It wasn't my duty to press the issue."

"On the contrary, I've been told you took such an action on your own initiative, without a direct order. That makes following through on the consequences of your actions the most important duty of all," said Snoke.

The Supreme Leader looked at Ren. "Tell the ensign what happened after he acted," Snoke said.

"The unidentified ship collided with my personal shuttle as it was preparing to land on the surface of Jakku," Kylo Ren stated. "My shuttle veered off course and crashed over five hundred kilometers north of the target site. I survived, but my mission to recover the map we seek from the Resistance failed. I was not present to ensure its success."

Arloe's legs nearly gave out. His stomach roiled painfully in horrified recognition.

"But I wasn't told Ren's shuttle was hit!" Arloe cried. "I had no idea!"

"As I said, failure to learn all the facts rests on you," Snoke said. "As does the failure of the First Order's mission to recover the map."

"No, no, but I saved the Bridge!" Arloe protested, any semblance of calm gone, all his thoughts focused on survival.

"A soldier worthy of the First Order would know how to calculate expendable losses," Kylo Ren said from behind his mask. "The mission to secure the map to Luke Skywalker takes precedence over all other concerns."

"But I am worthy!" Arloe wailed. He could feel his eyes nearly popping out. "I did what I thought was right! I didn't know the rocket would crash into Ren's shuttle. I just made a mistake!"

Snoke brought his spindly fingers together and steepled them in front of his misshapen face. "Mistakes are a sign of weakness, and weakness has no place in the First Order," he said. "Take up your weapon and prove you are not weak."

A thrumming snap-hiss met Ensign Arloe's ears, a sound he knew all too well despite his low rank. He turned to see the glow from Kylo Ren's lightsaber, a long beam of crackling, red energy, illuminating Ren's robes and the darkness of the audience chamber floor around Ren's feet. Kylo Ren held the weapon in a ready stance in front of him, his whole body poised for action.

Arloe felt tears of panic seeping behind his eyes as he pleaded up at the Supreme Leader. "But this isn't fair. He's too powerful for me to fight!"

"Power is never fair," Snoke intoned. "It only rewards the strong and punishes the weak and worthless. Which is why it's so valuable."

Kylo Ren strode forward, weapon shifting. Instinctively Arloe's right hand flew to his hip and drew the simple blaster holstered there. Panicking, terrified, he leveled the blaster at Ren and fired five successive shots.

Ren's red lightsaber deflected them all.

Arloe screamed and managed to fire three more shots, all of them deflected by the darting energy blade, before the blade swung in front of his throat, a hair's breadth away. He could feel the heat from the weapon radiating painfully onto his skin.

"Drop your weapon," Ren ordered.

Arloe dropped the blaster and listened to it clatter loudly onto the floor.

"You are tainted by weakness and failure," Supreme Leader Snoke announced in solemn disgust. "The magnitude of your failure in this instance has triggered the Codes of Ren. By those codes, you will now be purified by agony."

"Wait! No! Please no!" Arloe sobbed, every muscle quaking.

"Begin," Snoke ordered his enforcer.

The lightsaber shifted and began burning. Arloe started shrieking.

An hour later, the young ensign's lifeless body lay in a marred, scorched heap on the floor.

Kylo Ren accessed the Force, the invisible energy source that flowed through all living things, and pushed the ensign's body into the shadows along the edge of the audience chamber. He'd have to contact someone from Sanitation soon to come clean up the mess.

Pleasure flowed through his sweat-slicked muscles at the punishment he'd just spent the last hour administering. It was a temporary balm for the sense of loss and enraged frustration he felt at losing his chance to retrieve the map that led to his old master.

He turned and regarded his new leader, his true teacher, Supreme Leader Snoke.

"General Hux will be displeased when he learns we punished a member of the military without his consent," Kylo said.

He did his best to mask the smug satisfaction he felt at the thought of petulant, imp-faced Hux's ire, but he could feel the tendrils of the dark side of the Force invade his mind, signaling Snoke had easily slipped beneath his mental defenses and knew the truth. No matter. Snoke knew about the bad blood and constant feuding between his top military officer and his strongest pupil, and often seemed to encourage it.

"I will deal with Hux," Snoke said dismissively. "He too bears responsibility for this failure. But his skills are too important to risk, for now. At any rate, now that the Codes have been satisfied, we have much more urgent matters to discuss.

"There has been an awakening," Snoke continued. "Have you felt it?"

Kylo nodded. "Yes."

"There is more," Snoke added. "The Resistance pilot and the map we sought have certainly reached their destination by now, but we have been provided a chance to defeat our enemies before they can find your former master."

"The weapon," Kylo stated, knowing the answer was obvious. He frowned at the thought of Hux's pet project, grudgingly acknowledging the might of the planetoid war base.

"No," Snoke said, profoundly surprising Kylo. "I speak of a power even greater than the ability to destroy entire planetary systems."

The Supreme Leader's holo leaned forward in his throne and peered intently at Kylo. "There is an old legend, found in both the records of the Sith and the Knights of Ren. It is called the Tragedy of Gallifrey. Have you come across this tale in your studies?"

"I have not," Kylo answered, prickling with curiosity, but also with annoyance that he'd missed this apparently important lesson.

"We don't have time to discuss it in detail," said Snoke. "But the essence of the tale is this: Long ago, in a galaxy far from here, there lived a race of beings who learned to bend time itself to their will."

"That is supposed to be impossible," Kylo said.

"The legend is very clear on this point, and as we know, there is always some truth in legends," Snoke assured him. "According to the story, this race of beings lived on a planet called Gallifrey and named themselves Lords of Time. But instead of using their power to shape the destinies of lesser beings, they sat idly by and squandered their might.

"In the end," Snoke continued, "other races grew envious of the Time Lords' power and saw their indolence for what it truly was: weakness. One of those races achieved similar control over time, and waged a great war upon Gallifrey, a war fought in the very heart of time itself. Both races were decimated, and the Time Lords are said to be extinct."

"A very interesting fairytale," Kylo said dryly. Immediately he regretted his tone and words.

Snoke narrowed his piercing gaze at Kylo and frowned acidly. "Your disrespect and impertinence will be your downfall if you are not careful."

"Forgive me," Kylo said, lowering his head placatingly. Still, his annoyance continued to bubble in his emotions.

"The Legend of Gallifrey is not just a fairytale. I have encountered one of these Time Lords myself, years upon years ago. He said he was the last of his kind. Unlike the others, he was not indolent. He was a warrior, cunning and unpredictable. More importantly, he could enter and leave the flow of time at his will. He called himself 'The Doctor'"

Kylo clenched his fists, suddenly daring to believe such technology could exist. If so, he could travel back in time to meet his own grandfather. He could learn at the feet of Darth Vader, the powerful Force-wielder who ensured the birth of the Galactic Empire.

"When this Doctor emerged from the time stream, a ripple cascaded through the Force, a sensation unlike any I've ever known," Snoke said. "At the same time the rocket reportedly emerged from hyperspace above Jakku, I sensed these same cascading ripples."

I sensed nothing, Kylo thought but did not say.

"You believe the unidentified craft belongs to this being called the Doctor?" Kylo asked instead.

"I do," Snoke said. "And if we can capture him, we can use his power to serve the First Order. With the very fabric of time at our command, no one can stand against us, not even your old teacher Luke Skywalker."

Kylo shifted on the balls of his booted feet, anxious to leave this chamber and verify the truth of Snoke's theories.

"Yes, you may depart at once," Snoke said, leaning back on his throne. "I have already ordered Hux to dispatch search parties to the surface of Jakku. We must find the Doctor before he can jump through time again." Snoke's eyes widened as they stared fiercely at Kylo. "Find the rocket's pilot and bring him before me."

"As you wish," Kylo said, bowing. "I will not fail you."

"We shall see," Snoke replied. "We shall see."

The holo flickered and then vanished, leaving Kylo alone with his hopes and deeply buried fears.


	5. Tinny the Cyber Droid

 

Jenny and Rey sped over the desert sands on Rey's speeder. Coarse winds assaulted Rey's skin, but she was accustomed to them by now. She worried how Jenny would handle the rough ride back to the ship. Turns out she needn't have: Jenny hooted and hollered into her ear every few minutes, plainly relishing the experience and unfazed by the bumpy ride or gritty air.

Jenny rode behind Rey on the speeder, her arms wrapped around Rey's waist. Jenny wore an extra pair of Rey's goggles. The heat of Jakku only became more sweltering with another body pressed closely to Rey's own, but Rey decided there were worse bodies to be pressed against than Jenny's light form.

Hope and excitement still buzzed and fluttered in Rey's gut, but now uneasiness nested there too. She simply didn't believe Jenny's wild claims. Traveling through time? Impossible. The strange offworlder obviously still suffered from the bump on the head she received during the crash. In all the grand tales Rey knew about, from the mystical Jedi who controlled the unseen Force, to the limitless military might of the old Galactic Empire, to the Krayt dragons in their sweltering caverns, no mention of time travel existed. Impossible, she thought again.

Yet Jenny insisted on retrieving her ship, and although Rey couldn't bring herself to believe in the idea of time travel, she also couldn't resist helping the bright-eyed girl out.

For Jenny was indeed bright-eyed, staring at the wastes of Jakku like they were comprised of priceless jewels instead of sand. She told Rey she traveled to other worlds, simply for the sake of traveling, and her delightful attitude about dry, blistering Jakku certainly reinforced her story.

Hence Rey's uneasiness: Jenny reminded Rey of her own deep desire to travel the stars and see other worlds, a desire only exceeded by the dream of being reunited with her long lost family someday. She couldn't leave until they returned for her. But every day that passed, each tally mark she scrawled on her wall, reminded her of her unfulfilled dreams and the lost time slipping away like Jakku sand through an ancient chronoglass.

Rey would help Jenny get her ship; it was the right thing to do. What would Rey do after? She wasn't sure.

"I think I see the ship!" Jenny cried happily over Rey's shoulder.

Rey spotted it too: The odd, ballistic-style fins stood out clearly in the distance.

"Yep!" Rey yelled to Jenny. "We should be there in a quarter standard hour!"

As each click passed, Rey's muscles tensed further and her fingers twitched more and more eagerly for the staff secured next to her feet. She knew the odds of encountering other scavengers at the crash site were high.

True to Rey's estimation, they arrived at the site in just under a quarter hour.

Also true to her fears, other scavengers had already arrived. But they posed no threat at all.

"Oh my..." Rey gaped in shock at the dead bodies strewn around the crashed rocket.

From her vantage point on the parked speeder, she counted five human bodies. Blood stained the sand under the corpses. Rey saw broken necks, crushed hands, and tens of blaster wounds among the dead.

"Some sort of fight must have broken out here among these people," Rey said. "They… all must really have wanted your ship."

"I'm sure a fight broke out, but I doubt it happened the way you're picturing," Jenny replied.

Her arms slipped behind Rey and she hopped off the speeder, raising her goggles. Rey watched her trudge past the bodies toward her ship, and noticed how her hand hovered close to the streamlined blaster tucked into the pocket of her shorts.

"What do you mean?" Rey called to her.

Rey jumped off the speeder. She snatched up her polearm and jogged after Jenny. She too moved her goggles to the top of her head, scanning her surroundings warily.

Jenny strode steadily toward the ship's aft, and in a moment she disappeared from Rey's view. Rey gripped her staff tighter and stepped around the bulky thrusters.

And saw the last thing she expected.

Jenny stood with her hands on her hips, smirking up at a droid unlike any Rey had ever seen. The droid's casing glinted the color of steel, and Rey moved slightly to her right to avoid the blinding flare of the sun off its shoulder. Shadows filled its simple eye sockets and horizontal speaker slit. Shallow grooves criss-crossed its face and body. Its makers had manufactured thick arms and legs for it. Rey thought it resembled a protocol droid, but taller, sturdier, and unsettling and imposing in a way no protocol droid could possibly manage.

"I knew I could count on you, Tinny!" Jenny said to it, grinning.

"Affirmative," the droid's voice warbled out in deep, layered, artificial tones. "Your craft remains secure. All attempted tampering has been neutralized."

Suddenly the droid's head twitched to stare at Rey.

"Is this another hostile?" questioned the droid. "Is termination requested?"

The droid's right arm jerked upward and a slim blaster barrel rose out of its wrist, aimed straight at Rey.

"Hey!" Rey cried.

"Woah! No, she's okay!" Jenny called.

"Confirmed," the droid replied.

Its wrist lowered, and so did Rey's pulse rate.

"You, you didn't tell me you owned a droid," Rey stammered, catching her breath.

"A droid..." Jenny began in a tone that struck Rey as odd. "Yeah...he's my...droid."

"Hang on..." Rey backed up several paces and surveyed the scene of carnage in front of the rocket again, then quickly returned. "Your droid caused all that?"Rey jabbed her finger in the direction of the dead bodies.

Jenny folded her arms her pleased expression returned. "He's my contingency plan if I'm ever separated from my spaceship. I jettisoned him out of an escape pod the moment I saw the whopper I was about to crash into. I gave him standing orders in those situations to follow my ship's homing beacon and secure it until I come."

Rey gawked at the heavy-plated droid. "Well, he certainly kept it secure."

'Jakku's a harsh world,' Rey thought, 'why are you so sickened and shocked by this? It's nothing new on this planet.' But Rey instantly understood why: Without realizing, she'd already come to expect kinder, more civilized actions from Jenny. Her deeply buried fears about a cold, heartless galaxy stirred inside her emotions.

But then her eyes drank in Jenny's smug, beaming grin like precious water and she forgot her concerns, for the moment.

"You call him Tinny?" Rey asked. "What's his designation?"

"I am Cyber unit three-" the droid began.

"Tinny will do," Jenny interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I'm saving you a half an hour by cutting him off, trust me."

"Okay..." said Rey.

Jenny held her arms behind her back and traced the toe of her boot through the sand. "And if I'm being honest, I don't technically own him."

Rey smirked reservedly. "You mean you 'borrowed' him, like this ship?"

"Yeah," Jenny answered. "Let's just say his last owners weren't treating him very well, so I reprogrammed him."

"Hmm," Rey said, staring at the droid that stood a head taller than her, and even taller than Jenny. "You're good with droids then?"

"I'm good at fixing things," Jenny answered, moving her hands to her hips. "Comes… from my father."

Fondness and frustration seemed to mix on Jenny's face.

"You know I...I'm pretty good at fixing things too," Rey said, warmth much more pleasant than the blazing desert heat swelling in her chest. She smiled at Jenny.

Jenny beamed back at her. "Oh really? Do you get it from your father too?"

Instantly the warmth within Rey froze. "I...don't know," Rey answered hollowly.

Jenny stared at her, appearing concerned. "Didn't know your father very well, huh?"

Rey looked away, studying the broad, sandy, blistering expanse of Jakku. "I've been on my own for a long time."

It was the most information about herself she'd volunteered before, to anyone.

Suddenly she felt Jenny's hand on her arm. Her first instinct was to flinch away, but instead she relaxed into the touch and allowed herself a small moment of unguarded comfort. She looked into Jenny's bright eyes.

"I've an idea what you might be going through," Jenny said, voice quiet and tone tender. "You could say I still don't have the best relationship with my dad. And my mum...let's say complicated doesn't do it justice."

Another reserved smile spread over Rey's face. "Complicated isn't as much fun as it sounds, is it?'

Jenny chuckled. "No, not really."

Rey tugged her gaze away and surveyed the surrounding desert again. "We shouldn't stay here long," she said. "A ship like this will keep on being a prime target for other...people like me."

"Nothing to worry yourself over," Jenny said. She wrapped several times on her droid's metallic chest. "Tinny here'll make sure no one bothers us for long."

Once again, Rey paced backward and glanced uneasily at the dead bodies. "Yeah..."

"Anyway, need to sort out the damage," said Jenny.

She sprinted around past Rey and along the side of her spacecraft, on the same side providing such an arresting view of the carnage 'Tinny' left in his wake. Rey followed slowly.

Jenny hoisted herself into the open cockpit. She crouched on the pilot's chair and frowned at the decimated interior of the ship.

"You're quite fortunate you weren't skewered in half," Rey commented, also eyeing the numerous embedded pieces of shrapnel. "I think the First Order nailed you with a-"

"Some sort of ionic burst," Jenny finished for her. "Yeah, worked out that bit. But I'd already fired my only escape pod, so I was stuck going down with my ship."

Rey placed her staff in the ground, put a hand on her hip, and smirked weakly at Jenny. "I have a feeling you wouldn't be anywhere else. You're rather attached to this hunk of junk, aren't you?"

"Uh, yes," Jenny said. "I told you, Rey, it travels through time! So yeah, I'm 'rather attached.'"

Rey grimaced, uneasiness beginning to coat her emotions. "About that..."

Jenny's petite jaw dropped. "You don't believe me, do you?"

Rey opened her mouth to answer, but couldn't find the correct words, so she said nothing.

Jenny sighed, blowing air past her lips noisily. "Look, I'll prove it to you. I only hope the vortex manipulator is still working."

Jenny lifted up what looked like a toolbox of some sort from the alcove between the seat and the hull. Her head dropped out of sight as she buried her upper body beneath the ship's control panel. Rey soon heard sporadic clanking, banging, and mechanical whirring sounds emanating from beneath the panel.

"How's the damage?" Rey asked in a humoring tone, still nowhere close to believing Jenny's vessel could actually travel in time.

Jenny growled and didn't rise. "Secondary interface circuitry is loose and has some nasty electrical damage, but I think I can remedy that before long. Then I'll need to rewire the fusion-"

"Compressor?" Rey offered.

This time Jenny's head did pop up. She grinned at Rey.

"You do know a thing or two about fixing spaceships, then?" Jenny asked.

"I don't know much about time machines," Rey said jokingly. "But I do know my way around a ship or two."

Jenny leaned closer. "Care to give a girl a hand, then?"

"Sure," Rey answered, smiling.

During their repairs, Tinny began marching in a steady, predictable, circular route along the rocket's perimeter. Rey was unsettled by this at first, but her work soon claimed her full attention.

The rudimentary nature of Jenny's spacecraft made the repair work both extremely simple and quite complex. Rey repeatedly had to rack her brain for an unorthodox solution to the challenges the outdated tech represented.

On top of that, working next to Jenny in the cramped space wasn't easy. Elbows and knees from the two women were constantly bumping together. Jenny, for her part, seemed entirely focused on her repairs. She focused nearly all her attention on the area beneath the control panel, where Rey assumed this vortex manipulator device she kept referring to was located.

They'd been working for nearly two standard hours when a sense of foreboding draped over Rey. She immediately snatched up her nearby quarterstaff and stared frantically in all directions.

She saw it a split-second before the droid signaled them.

"Attention, unidentified craft approaching," Tinny announced.

"Huh?" Jenny asked, head bobbing into view.

Beginning as a small pebble in the distance but already twice as big, a spherical aircraft raced toward their position. Rey could hear the rising pitch of the craft's telltale shrill whine:

A TIE fighter, starship of the First Order.

Rey's stomach felt tightened into several complex knots.

"Who's that?" Jenny asked.

Rey didn't take her eyes off the approaching Starfighter. "First Order," she answered simply.

"And they're trouble, right?" questioned Jenny.

Rey nodded. "Yes. They've only been to Jakku a handful of times, but things never ended well. And I've heard far worse things about them."

The TIE fighter's globular body and rectangular wing panels whipped past overhead. Then the TIE circled back, crossing above them a second and third time, slower than the first pass.

Rey's muscles tensed and she gripped her polearm intensely, but she was currently helpless and she knew it. No shelter, nowhere to run.

But the fighter craft didn't fire on them. Instead, it streaked off in the direction it came from, the trademark whine of its engines slowly dwindling out of earshot.

Rey should have felt relief, but the uncanny sense of impending danger only increased. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew: They needed to get far from this location, and fast.

"We've got to get out of here," she said to Jenny.

Rey currently stood with one foot on the edge of the cockpit wall and the other resting on the pilot's chair. Jenny's body remained strewn over the chair and down under the control panel, but at the moment she propped herself up by resting an elbow on the edge of the controls and grasping the end of the chair with her other hand. It was an odd pose, but Jenny didn't seem uncomfortable at all. She also didn't seem worried in the slightest.

"We'll be okay," Jenny said. "They didn't even take a shot."

"Jenny, trust me, we need to leave."

Jenny's mouth became a straight line. "I'm not leaving without my ship," she said. "Go if you want. I appreciate all the help."

'Yeah,' Rey thought. 'I should just go. Why am I still here? I've helped her find her ship. I even helped her make some repairs. She has her droid bodyguard to protect her. What point is there in me staying?'

But Rey couldn't take a single step toward her speeder; she simply couldn't. She decided she would figure out why later.

"How close are you to fixing this thing?" Rey asked. "Will it fly again?"

Jenny grinned confidently. "Oh it'll fly. I've made some fantastic progress thanks to your help. I can have it in the air in about an hour or so."

"Okay," Rey said apprehensively. "Hurry. Tell me how I can help."

Jenny said she needed a quarter-hour. She only got a fourth of that before more ships appeared.

When Rey spotted the shuttlecraft flanked by four TIE Starfighters closing in from the direction of the Outpost, dread seized her.

"Attention, five unidentified craft approaching. Four match form and design from previous encounter," Tinny the droid informed them.

Rey tossed her spanner aside and hefted her staff once more.

"We're out of time Jenny," she said clearly and loudly. "We need to go."

Jenny finished yanking the final shrapnel piece out of its place in the rear compartment and stumbled backward.

"I need more time," she protested.

"You don't have it," Rey said firmly. "None of us do."

All five craft settled down less than fifty meters from them, stirring a storm of sand into the air momentarily. Black-armored troopers filed out of the TIEs. The shuttle's door lowered open and a figure descended, followed by a squad of troopers in gleaming white armor.

The figure wore a dark robe over an equally dark combat suit of some kind, but his face was the most frightening, for it was covered by a mask. A single slot marked the mask's eyes, revealing only darkness, not too different from the eyes of Jenny's droid. A mouthless lower half added to the mask's unnerving design.

Every fiber in Rey's being shouted at her to run, run quickly, run now.

The figure stopped halfway between Jenny's rocket and the formation of First Order ships. The mask's black eye-slit stared across the space, directly at Rey.

"You will come with us," the figure said, voice altered to a slightly distorted, brass thrumming by his mask. "Immediately."

"Jenny," Rey said quietly, neck and shoulder muscles twitching.

"Right," Jenny said. "Time for me to work a miracle."


	6. Escape from Jakku

 

Rey clutched her staff in a white-knuckled grip. Adrenaline coursed through her veins but she couldn't channel its energy anywhere. She stood on the seat of the cockpit, fully exposed to the troopers aiming their blasters at Jenny's rocket.

Behind her, she heard Jenny toss the last shrapnel chunk into the sand with a loud scrape and distinct thump. The masked man and his soldiers couldn't see Jenny yet, but they'd surely seen the shard fly out of the ship.

Tinny, meanwhile, stood motionless in the sand directly below Rey. She wrote him off instantly. He possessed solid construction but she doubted he would do any good in a firefight.

The masked man raised his right hand slightly.

"Take her," his mechanically-deepened voice ordered.

Rey gasped and dove into the narrow interior of the rocket, flinging her staff aside. She heard the reedy whiz of stun blasts flying through the place she stood seconds earlier, along with the sizzling splatter of more stun bursts peppering the rocket's hull.

Jenny and Rey climbed to their feet but couldn't fully stand in the cramped interior.

"I can still get us out of this," Jenny insisted, eyes wide. "I only need a few more minutes!"

Rey didn't want to ask how Jenny had managed to push up her deadline so easily.

"We're outnumbered!" Rey breathed. "And I don't own a blaster."

Jenny drew her handheld weapon swiftly. "I do, remember?" she said, flashing a cheeky grin.

Right then, Rey felt as far from cheeky as humanly possible.

"Tinny and I will give you cover fire," Jenny said. "I need you to close the cockpit hatch." She gestured using her lightweight pistol. "That wide yellow button just there. Do you see it?"

Rey looked quickly where she directed. "Yes, I see it."

The stun blasts ceased, and suddenly Rey heard speedy crunching sounds in the sand.

"They're moving in!" Rey cried in alarm.

"Tinny will hold them off!" Jenny assured her. "Go for the switch...," Jenny crouched, body coiling for a spring, "now!"

The lithe girl's upper body flew from beneath the shelter of the main hold and she squeezed a rapid series of energy bolts through the air.

Rey took a deep breath and hurtled beneath Jenny's shots, arm outstretched for the yellow switch.

Kylo Ren signaled the Stormtroopers to advance. Eagerness frothed in him, the desire to prove his continued worth to Supreme Leader and to secure the means to travel backward in time and meet his grandfather, the great Sith Lord Darth Vader. He focused his rabid eagerness, directed it into the power of the Force flowing through him, surrounding him.

The lead Stormtroopers had almost arrived at the crashed ship's side when the odd protocol droid standing in front of them suddenly churned into motion. One hand shot out, snagged a trooper by the neck, and sent jolts of crackling power through his body, while the other hand whipped up and extended a narrow blaster from its wrist. Using this wrist weapon, the droid proceeded to steadily and methodically drop the remaining front line of troopers into the sand one by one.

The entire group returned fire, but they'd barely begun before another human female jerked into view and began shooting downward upon them.

In the next instant, the other girl streaked out of the craft's innards and threw herself onto the cockpit controls. Following a slam of her fist, the cockpit hatch swung slowly downwards, emitting a piercing, grinding wail.

Kylo sensed a disturbance in the flow of the Force seconds before pure chaos broke loose amid the Stormtrooper ranks.

Gray, metallic objects, no longer than a human male's forearm, popped out of the sand and leapt onto the lead troopers. Keylo counted five, seven, ten of the eel-like objects. They wriggled their front ends into the joints of the troopers' armor and pumped more crackling doses of current into their bodies.

Flinging the electrocuted trooper into two more troopers, the droid resumed his undaunted, rhythmic pattern of blaster shots.

All this had taken place over a span of less than thirty standard seconds. Kylo could scarcely believe the situation had deteriorated so quickly. His eagerness morphed into rage, which tasted of familiar sweetness in the Force.

Kylo ignited his lightsaber and advanced.

"Nice job!" Jenny congratulated, returning her blaster to her pocket.

She burrowed her top half beneath the control panel again, and Rey could only wait for her to finish her work.

"It sounds like they're in complete disarray out there," Rey said, listening to the sounds of the pitched battle outside the rocket. "What is your droid doing?"

"Handling things, which is all we need," Jenny's muffled voice replied.

Rey rolled her staff repeatedly in and out of the cranny next to the pilot's seat anxiously, pulse throbbing in her skull.

She yelped when sparks flew from the control panel.

"Yes!" Jenny chirped, head popping up. "Got it!"

"Doesn't sound good to me!" Rey said.

Jenny grinned at her. "Trust me."

Rey stared back, recognizing how genuinely thrilled by their current predicament Jenny appeared. Rey didn't know whether to laugh or slap her. Instead, she turned and began crawling into the hold again.

"So let's get out of here," Rey exhaled.

"Your wish is my command," Jenny chimed. She pressed a switch on the control panel. "Tinny, get into load position, double-time!"

Kylo reached out using the Force and flung trooper after trooper aside, as well as the uncanny metal creatures jumping from one armored shoulder to the next. He quickly cleared a path to the droid.

Basking in his rage and anger, Kylo lifted up his lightsaber to strike down the troublesome machine.

The sand beneath him erupted in more of the metallic eels.

They swarmed up his body, covering him nearly from head to toe. He could feel their hard, rigid, bodies darting over him like mouse droids gone haywire. They waited until they engulfed his face before electrocuting him.

"Check, check, and check," Jenny said, tapping and flipping one switch after another.

Rey fumbled with the awkward harness on the narrow bench jutting from the wall of the hold. She heard the unexpected, welcome hum of the ship's engine coming to life. Maybe they would survive this after all.

Without warning a half-circle section of wall across the hold from Rey dropped loudly to the floor, causing her to yelp in surprise. Accompanied by a rattling whir, Tinny the droid rotated into the ship's interior, his feet attached by a pair of thick clamps to a circular platform. The platform thudded into place, creating a pit in the wall where the droid stood at an angle. Rey blinked and scrunched her face at the strange sight, but soon figured out that Tinny probably stood in the escape pod socket, now empty.

"Great use of the Cybermats," Jenny said brightly to the droid. Her expression fell slightly. "Too bad you had to use them all."

"The current situation required such action," Tinny droned in reply.

"Yeah, I know," Jenny said, shaking her head sadly.

Jenny secured herself in the pilot's chair and grabbed the steering sticks.

"Three, two, one," she said, flipping a series of switches.

The rocket's thrusters roared to life and the craft began sliding along the desert floor, drowning out the sound of the sand scraping beneath.

"Time to run!" Jenny called joyfully.

Kylo hurled the last of the metallic rodents off him in time to see the rickety, grungy vessel lift off the ground and angle into the sky.

Seething in fury, he saw one of his pilots stepping up beside him.

"Sir, what should we-"

Snarling in tantrum, Kylo summoned his fallen saber to him and slice the man vertically in half. He stepped between the toppling, fleshy halves to cut down a Stormtrooper, and another Stormtrooper, and another, drinking in the pain of their deaths to quench his poisonous anger and disappointment.

"Kylo Ren to the Finalizer," he said into his com link when he finished, hiding his slightly labored breathing. "Primary target is attempting to exit this system. Disable but do not destroy. Do you copy?"

"Understood," quipped General Hux's voice over the com.

Rey knew how to fly. She could feel the telltale ebbs and flows of the rocket's movements through the atmosphere and knew what each meant. She could also easily discern how much Jenny's piloting skills lacked.

However, she decided to focus on other things.

The blue sky soon gave way to the blackness of space, and Rey swallowed in both awe and terror at the sight of the white, immense form of the Star Destroyer looming in their path.

"We need to get to hyperspace now!" Rey cried.

"Don't know about hyperspace, but I've got access to something better," Rey said, turning a dial and pressing a series of buttons. "The vortex manipulator, remember?"

"Jenny, this is not the time for delusions!" Rey shouted.

"It's not a delusion!" Rey answered, sounding defensive but nowhere near Rey's level of panic. "It really does work. Except..."

"What?" Rey asked in exasperation.

"Two small problems," Jenny said, smacking a button several times before succeeding in depressing it. "One, I think the manipulator got scrambled pretty bad earlier, so it may be a long while before it will travel in time again. But space, blimey, we can go anywhere in the universe you want!"

"I..." Rey stammered, not sure how to respond.

She could see the Star Destroyer turning toward them. TIE fighters spewed from its belly, racing in their direction.

"Two, this vortex manipulator doesn't work like most of them. It has to be rigged to a vehicle and channel the vehicle's kinetic energy before reaching the right stability for a jump."

"I don't understand," Rey said.

"This spaceship needs to go really fast in order to enter the time vortex."

Rey lowered her head and uttered several Huttese curse words. "Look, for now, I'm going to assume and hope that time vortex equals hyperspace. If so, those TIEs aren't going to let us go anywhere fast!"

Jenny stared at the array of Starfighters filling the scene through the viewport.

"Right," Jenny breathed. "Well, I've got one last trick up my sleeve."

Her right hand yanked open a square compartment near the floor and punched the button inside. The rocket shuddered, and five blue spheres the size of a human head launched out the ship's front end and spread out, zooming in five different directions.

"What are those?" Rey questioned.

"Perception decoys," Jenny sighed. "I was hoping to save them."

"What?"

"Keep watching, and you'll understand."

General Hux stood on the bridge of the Finalizer, legs planted firmly beneath him and arms held confidently behind his back. He followed the progress of the TIE fighters interception of the unidentified vessel on the many viewscreens placed throughout the bridge in ever-increasing boredom.

He didn't fully believe Supreme Leader Snoke's explanation about time travel, and he certainly wasn't happy to be helping a spoiled brat like Kylo. But within the young General's chest beat an unwavering, even religious devotion to everything the First Order represented, so he would see this task done, however menial and worthless it appeared to him.

"Squadrons Two and Three, execute flanking maneuver Prime Green," he ordered.

His squadron leaders acknowledged his command, and their groups peeled off from the main group.

Moments later, the rocket craft vanished.

Hux's eyes bulged. "Where did it go?" he demanded.

"I-I don't know," stammered someone from a crew pit.

"Gone, completely..."

"How could...?"

"Where is..."

"I don't see..."

Pandemonium and confusion began rolling over the bridge. Hux glared in turn at every screen in sight, unwilling to believe the facts his eyes showed him: The unidentified ship was gone.

"Impossible!" fumed Hux.

As if in response, the rocket blinked into existence again. But this time, it zipped past the Star Destroyer's starboard side and into the empty space beyond.

"All squadrons reverse course!" Hux screamed. "Ensign Vreeda, I want a tractor beam in place now!"

Hux saw it on three monitors at once: The shabby, unsophisticated ship darted out of sight in the telltale motion of entering hyperspace, slipping from his grasp.

He sighed through clenched teeth. He would enjoy relaying the failed mission to Ren. But telling Supreme Leader Snoke...

Joy couldn't be further from the emotions welling in him in anticipation of the upcoming conversation.


	7. The Castle of Kanata

 

"What happened?" Rey cried in joyful disbelief.

Somehow, inexplicably, the oncoming First Order Starfighters had scattered and allowed Jenny to pilot their ship easily past them. Soon after, the rocket craft had jumped to light speed.

Or so Rey assumed at first, but she began to wonder if Jenny's claims about her ship might be true. Instead of the streaking lines of hyperspace, the spacecraft's wraparound port showed a field of swirling indigo hues and some sort of storm clouds. Storm clouds?

Jenny calmly flicked a switch on the controls, seemingly unconcerned by the strange sight through the window.

Jenny glanced at Rey over her shoulder. "Like I said, perception decoys," she answered. "They projected a perception filter field out front of us. It's like an energy shield that deflects eyesight instead of weapons fire. While the field was active, they couldn't see us unless they concentrated extra hard. Confuses their instruments too."

"I've never heard of anything like those," Rey said, eyes still trained on the swirling madness outside the window. She barely remembered what she and Jenny were talking about. "What..., Jenny what am I looking at? It doesn't look like hyperspace."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jenny grin cheekily. "Rey, meet the time vortex."

"Is it...really? No, it can't be," Rey whispered, concentration slowly absorbing into the spiraling, stormy chaos.

"Why can't it be?" Jenny questioned, a slight note of offense in her voice. "Why can't you accept the possibility of other things besides the ones you've grown up with on your desert world?"

Rey flicked her eyes to the other girl, emotional defenses raised. "I know about lots of things. I'm not some desert slum rat."

"Easy, I wasn't saying you were, was I?" Jenny soothed. "I'm only saying you seem dead set on refusing to believe anything I tell you."

"I...I..." Rey's lips moved, but she couldn't think of an adequate response.

Suddenly feeling very tired, Rey sagged against the flight harness. "What's the plan now, anyway?"

Jenny's grin widened. "Here's the best part: We can go wherever you want! Mind you, I could've said 'whenever,' but like I mentioned earlier, the manipulator is damaged somewhat. So yeah, your galaxy, my galaxy, take your pick!"

Rey merely stared, mind struggling to process the meaning behind Jenny's words. "Anywhere...in the universe?"

"Right you are," Jenny replied.

Rey shook her head in disbelief. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know..." She looked up again. "All I know right now, is that we should avoid Jakku for a while, but I need to get back there once the First Order leaves."

"Back there? Why do you want to go back?" Jenny questioned. "We can go literally anywhere!"

"My family," Rey insisted. "They'll be coming for me. I don't want to miss them."

Jenny's eyebrows raised. "We can go find your family. Why wait, let's go meet them! You can introduce me."

Folding her arms, Rey stared at the floor. "I...don't know where they are."

"Hmm," Jenny replied.

For a minute or two, the only sound in the rocket craft was the hum of the engines.

"Sounds like you've got the same problem I do," Jenny said finally.

"What? What do you mean?" Rey asked.

Jenny sighed. "My dad. I'm looking for him. But I have no idea where he is. He could literally be anywhere. Past. Present. Future. Here. There. Anywhere. He's got a motor like mine, but ten times better. Mine's scrap compared to his. I've been searching for him for a month now without any luck."

Rey studied Jenny again in the dim, reddish glow of the ship's lighting: her youthful, pretty face, her lithe form and deft hands.

"How did you get separated?" Rey asked. "Why are you looking for him?"

A dark expression crossed Jenny's face. "He thinks I'm dead. I mean, technically I was dead, but then I woke up."

A chill prickled Rey's spine. "You came back from the dead?"

Jenny nodded. "Something like. Still don't understand it myself."

After everything else she wrestled to comprehend, Rey quickly decided to file this incredible nugget on a shelf for later review, to avoid going completely crazy.

"Anyway, my dad, he didn't even hang around long enough to attend the funeral, did he?" Jenny continued. "So by the time I woke up, he'd already gone."

"And then you...borrowed this ship," Rey finished for her.

Jenny smirked shyly. "Yeah."

Rey frowned. "So what were you doing here? Over Jakku?"

Now Jenny frowned too. "Getting conned, that's what. I bought an AT-2000 from a bloke on Ravager Alley in the Ord Cloud Run."

"What's an AT-2000," Rey interrupted.

"Anomaly Tracker 2000," Jenny clarified. "Specifically time-space anomalies. See, my dad hops around in a time machine too, so figured the easiest way to track him down would be to slap the AT-2000 on the vortex manipulator and go hunting."

"It would lead you to him," Rey reasoned aloud.

"Yeah, or so I thought." Jenny rolled her eyes. "The fellow who sold it to me seemed shifty from the start. I should've known it wouldn't work. First place it led me was your planet, where I nearly ploughed straight into a super spaceship." She twisted in her seat and slapped a spherical protrusion on the control panel that blinked a dull green. "And now the thing's going off constantly. Thinks there's an anomaly all around us."

Rey watched the blinking orb. "I wish it worked for you," she offered.

Jenny waved a hand dismissively, but Rey thought she saw gratitude in her eyes. "Whatever. Good news is, I have a plan B. And if you don't have anywhere you want to go right now..."

Rey smiled reservedly, intrigued. "No, no place in particular."

"Well, in that case, let's head to a friend of mine," said Jenny. She began working the controls. "Well, I say friend, but I've only just met her. I made a quick stop there before I ended up on your planet. But something about her... You'll see. Once you meet her, you feel like you've known her your whole life, or maybe like she's known you."

"Okay..." said Rey. "Why are we visiting her?"

"If the AT-2000 doesn't work, the vortex manipulator needs to interface with a stellar map," Jenny explained.

"Yes, system charts," Rey added, understanding. "You need to download charts of the neighboring systems. But there are lots of places you can access those."

"Ah, but this friend of mine, she's the type who carries lots of information, stuff you can't find in maps or computer databanks," Jenny explained, flicking a series of switches on the lower right corner of the panel. The hum of the ship's engine shifted in pitch. "I want to knock about in your galaxy for a while, see if I can learn anything to help me track down my dad. I also need to find a way to fix the manipulator."

"Makes sense," Rey said.

"The ship's computer, if you can call it a computer, still has the coordinates for this friend's planet," said Jenny. "And...here we are: Takodana!"

The spiraling storms of the vortex faded out of existence, replaced by a verdant green planet. Bands of white cloud flecked the emerald orb, and small seas wreathed its hemispheres. Jenny flew the ship toward the portion of the world cloaked in night.

Cloud cover soon gave way to a landscape painted in rays from the setting sun. Jenny directed the rocket craft into a dive, speeding over an evergreen forest. Rey's mouth fell open, enthralled by how much green flora met her eyes.

A towering stone castle came into view, bordered by a long lake. Jenny guided the ship to a top corner of the building. A landing pad emerged, hidden from view between architectural protrusions unless approached straight on.

Unfortunately, Jenny's approach speed seemed destined to splat the rocket against the hangar's rear wall.

"Slow down Jenny!" Rey cried, gripping the sides of her bench.

"I'm trying!" Jenny shouted.

Jenny heaved backward on a control stick, sending the ship's nose skyward. The rocket flew into the hangar at a near-vertical angle. The sound of thrusters scraping loudly along the floor reverberated into the cockpit. Rey clenched her teeth, squeezed the bench edge until her fingers stung, and prepared for the worst.

Miraculously, instead of slamming into the wall, the craft turned and crashed onto its belly at a perpendicular angle to its original flight path. Sparks and the screech of metal on stone filled the air.

Finally, the rocket ship skidded to a halt less than a meter from the wall.

Rey worked to unclench her jaw and tried even harder to open her clawing fingers.

"Blimey, close one!" Jenny exhaled.

"You think?" Rey snapped. "Next time I'll do the piloting."

"Whatever. This is my ship, remember?"

"Won't be your ship for very much longer if you don't learn how to pilot it."

"Oh, get off it Rey," Jenny said. "We've got more important stuff to worry ourselves over."

"Yeah, sure," Rey muttered, but she found she couldn't stay mad at Jenny for long.

"Tinny, you stay here and guard the ship," Jenny instructed the droid with a wag of her finger.

"Confirmed," Tinny replied.

Rey unstrapped herself from her bench and replaced her staff on her back. Both young women discarded their sand goggles, left over from Jakku. Jenny pressed the button to open the cockpit, and Rey and Jenny hopped onto the hangar floor.

Rey followed Jenny to an archway set in a nearby wall. Jenny led the way down a flight of narrow steps and along a much wider hallway. Aged glow orbs lit the passage. Rey could hear an undulating murmur of hundreds of voices emanating from somewhere nearby and below.

"She spends most of her time in the main dining area," Jenny said. "Probably there right now."

Jenny guided them down three more flights of stairs. The final passageway they entered opened into a wide chamber full of bustle, activity, scents of food and drink, and a huge variety of people from all parts of the galaxy.

Rey gawked, ashamed by her rudeness but unable to stop. She surveyed the swarming, chaotic commotion. A hodgepodge of species engaged in continuous rounds of laughter, eating, drinking, gambling, and cards. Band music hooted and tootled through the room.

"Jenny!" a feminine, reedy voice cried happily from across the room. "Jenny my dear!"

The crowd parted to reveal an extremely short figure clad in aged, yellowish brown skin, baggy maroon pants, handmade boots, gray vest, and blue-green sweater. An assortment of tech devices hung from a belt on her waist, a pair of goggle-like glasses shielded her eyes, and rings and bracelets dangled from her wrists.

"Come, sit down over here!" called the old woman. She indicated an empty table in the far corner, held up by three rickety, cracked legs.

Self-consciously aware of the sudden subdued noise in the room and the numerous stares focused on Jenny and herself, Rey followed Jenny through the rapidly dispersing throng.

The woman met them halfway. She reached out and clasped Jenny's hand as she walked.

"It's good to see you again, child," she croaked happily. A stern visage appeared on her withered face. "From your bandage I see you didn't waste time getting into trouble after you left here."

"Err, not too much trouble anyway," Jenny said, glancing meaningfully in Rey's direction.

The elderly woman's eyes narrowed slightly as they appraised Rey. "Hello. Who is your friend?"

"Hi. I'm Rey."

"Well Rey, welcome to my castle. I am Kanata. Call me Maz. Be sure to use my name if anyone here gives you trouble."

Rey smiled reservedly, amused by the contrast between the old woman's diminutive stature and the commanding presence she exuded.

Maz swung nimbly into one of the chairs at the table and Jenny sat next to her. Rey seated herself on the other side of the table, removing her staff but holding it securely in her hand. She regularly eyed the nearby patrons. A life on Jakku taught her never to let her guard down.

She caught Maz watching her closely, and somehow she knew the elderly lady read her body language clearly and discerned her wariness.

"Where are you from, child?" Maz asked Rey.

Rey hesitated before answering. "Jakku."

"And what brings you two out here?" She looked at Jenny. "Surely you don't need to refuel already?"

Rey noticed that Jenny also kept a continual eye on the room. "No, no, though maybe topping her off couldn't hurt." She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "What we could really use right now is some information: maps, and some helpful intel plus. Any luck on the research project I asked about last time?"

"Hmm," Maz said, studying her. Her eyes flitted to analyze Rey too.

"Still searching for family are you?" The question seemed intended for Jenny, but she looked at Rey when she spoke.

Rey shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Yeah, I am," Jenny answered, still in a low voice. "He won't get rid of me so easily."

"Hmm," Maz said again. She looked back and forth between the two girls. "As a matter of fact, I was able to find some interesting information in my archives. We can discuss it after dinner."

Rey observed the darkness outside the chamber windows, again reminded that she and Jenny had landed on the night side of the planet.

"More like lunch for us," said Jenny. "But fine by me."

"Me too," Rey added.

Maz requested food for them, along with some light caf. Rey stared at the meats and cheeses heaped on her plate for a full minute before finally overcoming her awe enough to begin eating.

Maz made small talk over the meal, mostly explaining the purpose of her castle, which was, as far as Rey could understand, sort of a refuge and political asylum for refugees and travelers. Yet the entire time she talked, Rey's instincts identified Maz's tactics to be predatory, or at least calculating. For though she did most of the talking, she spent her time closely observing Rey and Jenny's reactions. Rey expected to feel more guarded and suspicious about this, but she didn't. Perhaps because Rey thought she could see wise, searching, truth-seeking eyes behind Maz's spectacles.

A few hours later, past midnight by planetary standards, the three of them gathered in a basement room beneath the dining hall. Despite the late hour, plenty of banging, footsteps, music, and other ruckus drifted down through the ceiling.

Bookshelves lined the walls. Rey stared in wonder: Books were a rarity. She'd only seen one on Jakku, and from what she'd heard, other planets experienced a similar scarcity. Datapads, holos, and similar tech rendered information printed on paper nearly obsolete in the minds of most people.

Not Maz, apparently. Her short-legged stroll carried her to a book extending farther out than the others, and when she slipped the leather-bound volume off the shelf, she did so delicately and almost lovingly. She snatched a nearby stool, dragged it back to Rey and Jenny, and hoisted herself onto the seat.

"I searched for a day and a half before I found the information you seek," Maz said, hefting the book.

"Blimey Maz, you didn't need to do so much work!" Jenny exclaimed.

"Of course I didn't," Maz stated. "Now, I suggest you make yourselves comfortable. I'm going to tell you a story."

"Story?" Jenny questioned. "What story is that then?"

Maz opened the leather-bound book on her lap and turned the first page, but kept her eyes alternatingly fixed on the two girls.

"The tale of the Oncoming Storm," Maz said.


	8. The First and the Last

 

"What do you know of the Force?" Maz asked, after Jenny and Rey seated themselves cross-legged on the floor in front of her.

Jenny shrugged. "Force? Sounds all mysterious. I've never heard of it before."

Maz's gaze shifted to Rey expectantly. "Child?"

Rey scrunched her face. "It's a power that the Jedi had...that enables them to control people and...lift rocks?"

Maz chucked. The chuckle became a throaty cough. She struggled to compose herself for nearly a minute, worrying Rey. But finally she regained control of her breathing.

"So close, and yet entirely wrong," Maz said. "Quite an achievement."

Rey pursed her lips. "That's what I've heard, in stories from travelers," she offered.

"But here is the first story," Maz said, pointing at the book in her lap. "Written by the ancient Jedi historians themselves.

"The Force is an energy field that connects all living things," Maz continued. "It enabled the Jedi to sense the thoughts, intents, and auras of other beings. It enabled them to glimpse the future or peer into the past. The Force gave them the ability to influence the physical world around them in many ways."

Maz began flipping gently through the book, pausing periodically to trace a page with one of her aged fingers.

"For millennia, the Jedi Knights, beings intimately connected to the Force, safeguarded all liberty in the galaxy," she said. "Free will, democracy, and freedom flourished. It was a golden age for the galaxy.

"But then came the Sith, users of the Force who chose to use its darker nature for evil. They sought to destroy all freedom.

"The Jedi and the Sith fought one another in a terrible war. They unleashed Force powers unlike any the galaxy had witnessed before.

"The Jedi should have triumphed, but their long reign had made them indolent and complacent. The Sith took advantage of this, and after decades of bloodshed, the Jedi were on the brink of annihilation."

Rey watched closely as Maz turned to a page near the end of the book, traced the words on it, and began reading aloud:

"'On the final day, on the bluff overlooking the Eternal Molten Sea, the Jedi fought for their lives. They believed the will of the Force had come out against them, and they prepared to rejoin it in serene surrender.

"But then he came: the Lonely God, the Noble Wanderer of Chaos, the Warrior of Time, the Oncoming Storm.

"His ship materialized from the ether. He stepped forth, and gave the Jedi what they needed most in their darkest hour. I cannot write the truth of his gift, for it was great and terrible. The Jedi prevailed. None of the Sith survived. Their total destruction ensured that the legend of what happened that day never found its way into their shadowy rites.

"But the Jedi's salvation came at a terrible price. The Jedi could not allow the Oncoming Storm to remain, but bade him leave. He complied, promising to stay out of the galaxy's affairs forever."

Maz glanced up from her book. "That's what this record claims. Yet other stories suggest the Oncoming Storm broke this promise. The tales of many races and orders describe a similar figure materializing in a magical craft and righting wrongs where no one else could. And I do not even know all the accounts and legends that exist."

"Blimey," Jenny breathed. Despite the situation, Rey couldn't help noting how cute her expression of surprised wonderment appeared on her face. "That sounds like...my dad."

"Your dad?" Rey questioned. "Seriously?"

"Yes, I believe this Oncoming Storm matches the description of your father," Maz told Jenny.

"Do you where he is now?" Jenny asked eagerly.

Lines of somberness creased Maz's old face as she turned to the last page in the book and peered at it. "There is a prophecy at the end of this volume. It states,

"'When the Last meets the First at the Birthplace of the Jedi, the Oncoming Storm will return and bring salvation to those who need it most.'"

Maz raised her head.

"Humph," Jenny commented. "Textbook enigmatic, those Jedi historians, weren't they?"

"What does it mean?" Rey asked, intrigued.

"The First and the Last could mean many things," Maz intoned. "But I believe it refers to the first Jedi and the last Jedi, meeting face to face."

"How…," Rey questioned, confused. "How can that happen?"

"I do not know," Maz said. "The language of Force prophecies can be easily misread. But..." She pulled her large spectacles off her eyes and returned them atop her head. She peered intently at both Rey and Jenny, her gaze flicking to and fro between them. "But the Birthplace of the Jedi is difficult to misinterpret. I am almost certain it refers to the first Jedi temple."

Rey blinked, ruminating on the legends she'd heard of the Jedi. None of them had mentioned the first Jedi temple.

"No offense Maz, but what does this have to do with finding my dad here and now?" Jenny asked.

Maz closed her eyes and remained silent.

Rey and Jenny exchanged questioning glances. Just when Rey was about to ask if Maz was okay, her eyes opened.

"The Force is awake again," Maz said. "Its will moves in renewed intensity. The Jedi are on the brink of destruction once more. As we speak, the Resistance, the final enemy of the evil First Order, searches for Jedi Master Luke Skywalker."

"Luke Skywalker?" Rey breathed in awe. "I thought he was a myth."

"He is real, I assure you," Maz replied. "And to my knowledge, he is the last of the Jedi, and he is rumored to be searching for the first Jedi temple."

Jenny sprang to her feet, causing Rey's fighting instincts to flare for a moment. "That's bloody brilliant!" she piped excitedly. "What do you mean 'easily misread?' You can't get any more proper and clear. We need to talk to these Resistance lot."

"It will not be easy," Maz said. "But then, nothing of importance ever is. Patience, child. You and your friend need to rest. I will see what I can learn tonight, and in the morning we will find out what the will of the Force has provided."

Jenny breathed deeply and bit her lip. "Right, patience. Not my greatest strength. But all right..."

She flashed Rey a cheeky smile over her shoulder. "...We'll sleep on it."

Rey was certain her face displayed a calm, neutral expression as she nodded in response, but inside her, Jenny's words caused a stirring of hopeful excitement, not unlike her emotions at seeing Jenny's rocket for the first time.

Maz waited until the footsteps of the two girls had long since died out. Then she opened the book to the last page again and held its rough fibers between her fingertips.

"Oh children, I wish I could tell you that I only shared half the prophecy," she sighed.

She hated withholding information. It was at least dishonest, probably even deceitful of her. But she made a promise to the person who gave her this book, and she intended to keep that promise. She'd already kept most of it. Now to fulfill the rest.

She closed her eyes regretfully, then tugged on the page. She tore it from its binding using great care. Then she hopped off the stool, replaced the book on the shelf, and folded the torn-out page into a small, neat rectangle. She slid the rectangle into a pocket on her vest.

"The will of the Force indeed," she breathed wearily, before beginning her climb up the stone steps.


	9. Rey's Burden

 

 

 Rey stood beneath the spray of hot, steamy water showering down on her. Every few minutes she wondered again if she'd died and arrived in a heavenly afterlife. Cleaning herself on Jakku had never been so luxurious or pleasurable. Water was scarce, and clean water even scarcer. The fact that jets of pure, heated water continued to blast against her back without any sign of stopping was a miracle she would never find anywhere on Jakku.

The peaceful sleep she'd found in the private quarters Maz gave her within the castle, and the elegant comfort of her bed, added two more miracles to her day.

"Don't forget the miracle Jenny pulled off when she got us past the First Order on Jakku," Rey murmured to herself.

And so her mind finally began to wander from the miraculous shower to her current situation. She'd helped Jenny escape Jakku and determine her next step: contacting the Resistance. Jenny's course was set, and Maz would help her now.

Which left one glaring question: What would Rey do now?

Jenny could return her to Jakku with ease, assuming the First Order ship no longer orbited the planet. Rey knew that the longer she remained away, the greater the chance she would miss the chance to see her family when they returned.

Yet a hollow, dreading ache beat in the rear of her mind. She refused to acknowledge it.

So the most logical choice for her was to find out whether the First Order still watched Jakku, and then ask Jenny to drop her off on her way to find the Resistance.

"No," Rey whispered into the humidified air.

As she spoke that word, she pictured Jenny's petite, smiling face, her bravery in fixing her rocket ship while under attack by the First Order, her smirks and her laughs and the wonder in her eyes when she surveyed the Jakku desert.

"I've never met anyone like her," Rey whispered. "How can I let her go now?"

And then Rey's bare shoulders, soothed for so long by the streams of hot water, each seemed burdened by two forces tugging her their direction. On one hand, her desperate desire not to be off world when her family came looking for her. On the other hand, her yearning to explore the worlds beyond Jakku, a yearning both intensified and embodied by Jenny herself.

And in Rey's heart, a new feeling began to smolder.

When Rey finally shut off the shower, her mind reeled in confusion. She stepped out of the stall and stood in front of the clothes Jenny had loaned her, retrieved from Jenny's ship. Rey dressed mindlessly at first, but soon became distracted by the softness and fineness of the fabric in Jenny's clothes, unlike any cloth found on Jakku.

A full-length mirror in the refresher station showed her that the sleeveless black top and short, dark-green leggings fit her surprisingly well.

"I'm sure the chest is more roomy on me than it would ever be on her," Rey mused both in chagrin and excited amusement.

She stepped out of the refresher, slung her staff and pack over her shoulder, donned on her boots, and stepped into the hallway.

As the door to her quarters slid shut behind her, the door to Jenny's adjacent rooms opened, and Jenny emerged. Her clothes resembled the ones from yesterday, but with a blue top instead of green and with a pad of some sort of stretched animal hide protecting each of her thighs. She wore her blaster tucked in the holster of a thin belt and her own pack of discarded clothes on her back.

"Well hello," Jenny chimed. "How did you sleep?"

Rey found herself beaming at the memory. "Wonderfully," she exhaled.

Jenny smiled warmly. "Good. I'm glad to hear it." Then she added more quietly, "You deserve loads more nights of wonderful sleep."

Rey pursed her lips and folded her arms as a rare bout of shyness gripped her. "Thanks."

"Well, we both collapsed in our bunks pretty quickly last night, so we never got a chance to sort this out," Jenny began, and Rey's fighting instincts prickled, "but what are you going to do now? Do you...want to come with me when I talk to the Resistance?"

Rey gritted her teeth. She wasn't ready to have this conversation yet. "I was still thinking of returning to Jakku."

"Oh." Rey thought she could sense the faintest flicker of disappointment in Jenny's voice and face. "Do you think it's safe?"

"I'll find out," Rey said. "I need to get back in case my family comes looking for me."

"Right..." Jenny said. Her bright eyes looked into Rey's and her mouth opened as if ready to say more, but closed soon after.

"Do you even know if Maz can locate the Resistance?" Rey asked into the uncomfortable silence.

"She seems like the type who could do," Jenny mused. "Imagine I'll find out soon enough."

She took a step closer to Rey. "I know finding your family is important to you," Jenny continued, "but….well, Tinny's a good back up and all, but I could use a second set of hands to help me out. Hands that aren't, you know, metal."

She reached out and took Rey's hand in hers. Rey looked questioningly from her hand to Jenny's face. Jenny smirked in response and gently rubbed her fingers over Rey's palm.

"Not exactly Jergens smooth, but certainly softer than Tinny's plating," Jenny said.

Rey's pulse beat faster, but not from fighting instincts. She grimaced at Jenny. "What kind of 'help' are you talking about?"

Jenny stepped even closer, so close her face hovered only a few hairs' breadths from Rey's.

Heart racing, Rey became keenly aware that they stood alone in a silent, deserted hallway of the castle, and of the warm, fresh breath wafting from between Jenny's lips.

"I know we were only introduced yesterday," Jenny said quietly, "but when I saw you properly, the morning after you rescued me..." She hesitated. "Well, it took me a while to realize it, but the sight of you was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."

Jenny closed the space between them and her lips brushed Rey's.

Sudden panic seized Rey. Her mind flashed back to hundreds of nights huddled in a dark alley corner, hiding from the night gangs, then to a hundred days spent prowling the outskirts of the outpost while listening for the telltale footfalls of brigands stalking her.

Never too close, never too much trust.

Rey flinched and stumbled away from Jenny.

"I'm, I'm sorry," Jenny breathed. "Maybe I got a little carried-"

"No, it's not..." Rey looked away in discomfort. "I've never…, it's like..."

Rey clenched her fists, furious at herself. Jenny wasn't a member of a night gang or a desert brigand. She wasn't a backstabbing scavenger or a greedy thug. Jakku could never produce anyone as incredible and magnificent as Jenny. So why couldn't Rey let her guard down just this once?

"Look," Jenny offered, "I understand if you're not into-"

A thunderous rumble resounded through the castle and the floor heaved beneath their feet. Rey slammed into one wall, Jenny into the other.

"What in bloody hell?" Jenny exclaimed.

"Attention everyone, initiate Emergency Protocol Alpha!" Maz's reedy voice ordered over the intercom. "They're here!

"The First Order is here!"


	10. Heart to Heart

 

 

Kylo Ren's TIE fighter soared over the castle parapets and blasted them with another flurry of strafing fire. His two wingmen followed his example, their green bolts streaking out seconds after his.

Fury beat alongside feral hunger in the Force within Kylo. How dare the time ship escape his grasp? But he'd found it again, thanks to the Supreme Leader's guidance. Snoke had sensed when the time ship transported, and followed its special signature in the Force to its next destination. The process took longer than Kylo expected or wanted, but now he was here, ready to claim his prize.

First he had to find it, and before that, the denigrates who patronized this castle needed to be pounded into submission before they could mount any resistance.

'Resistance:' The irony of Kylo's thought wasn't lost on him, and he gripped the control yokes tighter at the idea of losing his chance to relocate his old Jedi master, Luke Skywalker. A crowd of people emerged from one of the castle's many side entrances at that moment, and he used them to satisfy his anger. His starfighter's weapons splattered the escapees to pulp.

….

"How did they find us?" Jenny demanded as another tremor tossed her about.

"How do you know they're here for us?" Rey replied, crouching low to the ground to maintain her balance this time.

"Our ship!" Jenny piped, eyes flashing. "They must be after our ship!"

Rey noted that Jenny said 'our' ship, not 'my' ship. Of course, she could be referring to Tinny…

"How can you be sure?" Rey asked.

"Come on Rey! You think it's only a coincidence they showed up here less than a day after we did? No, whoever these First Order lot are, they must want my ship's ability to time travel."

Rumbles and explosive sounds reverberated throughout the castle.

"Good thing it's broken, then," Rey said dryly.

Jenny crouched beside her and gripped both her shoulders.

"We've got to stop them!" Jenny implored, eyes gleaming. "These people are in danger because of us!"

Rey's jaw tightened. "You're right," she said to Jenny. "We've somehow led them here and put Maz and everyone else in harm's way."

Jenny stood and drew her odd blaster, flicking off what must have been the safety switch. "We can distract them and get them firing at us instead of this place," she said. "Time to make things right. Come on!"

She sprinted down the hallway, and Rey followed closely behind her.

The hallway heaved beneath their feet a third time, and screams echoed in the distance.

….

"I want the Lawman's Guild and the Shomani Delegation manning the East Gate!" Maz shouted into her comm link. "And Jolay's boys are on the fluid-tech ballista!"

She stood atop a statue in the center of the dining hall. The statue, a bulbous, abstract design, stood two meters tall and possessed a head that flattened out conveniently for her. Flurries of activity surrounded her. Most of the activity showed order and purpose, but she could see more panicked trampling than she liked.

"Keep your wits!" she called to a madly murmuring Ithorian as he dashed past her platform. "We've planned for this. Trust in yourself and trust in the Force!"

"Maz!"

She turned toward the voice and her heart lifted at the sight of Jenny and Rey dashing across the hall toward her. They soon reached her, faces flustered and battle-alert but neither appearing exhausted or overcome by panic.

Good, Maz thought, very good.

"We've caused this!" Jenny confessed. "I'm sorry Maz! They're after us. But don't worry, we'll take care of them!"

Maz adjusted her glasses and peered intently at Jenny. "You cannot blame yourself for the evil choices of others. And the First Order is evil. I do not blame you. And you must recognize that you cannot take them on all by yourself."

"Wouldn't think of it," Jenny said. "It's my ship they're after, so we're going to them a little peepshow! And when they start chasing it, we'll lead the whole mess of them off your world."

"Very well," Maz intoned gravely. As the Force willed. "Fly swiftly and bravely, Child."

She turned to Rey, and she felt once again like a swamp moth must feel when entranced by a pest shield: knowing that to keep looking meant being drawn toward a fiery death, but unable to look away all the same.

"Rey, Child, I have something for you," Maz said.

Rey's eyebrows rose. "Me?" she questioned.

"Yes. There's not much time, but in the crook of this statue's lower half, there is a satchel. Take it."

Rey's brow furrowed, but she knelt out of sight, and emerged moments later holding the simple brown satchel in her hands.

"What is this?" Rey asked.

"There is no time to explain now," Maz said. "Take it with you. It will help you and Jenny on your journey."

A host of troubled emotions crossed Rey's face, and Maz read them all clearly. Her aged mouth twitched in a regretful smile.

"You are more than your past," Maz said to Rey, ignoring the increasing volume of the blasts to the roof or the shower of stone flecks that began raining down. "Remember that Rey. Remember."

Rey stared at Maz, eyes quivering in vulnerability and curiosity, and opened her mouth to speak.

A deafening explosion blew apart the towering double doors at the end of the chamber, blasting apart or crushing anyone nearby, and a squadron of Stormtroopers charged in.

"They're here, those animals!" Maz spat. Her entire body coiled for action, ready to defend her home and those under her care. She deftly tossed the jet pack lying on the platform beside her onto her back and withdrew a belt of weapons from its belly.

"Maz, you can't fight them on your own!" Rey protested.

"I'm not on my own," Maz assured her. "I have planned for this day. I will survive as the Force wills it. Now go!"

And she activated the jet pack and rocketed into the air.

…..

"Maz..." Rey groaned, watching her streak through the chamber. Her legs ached to sprint after her, and her arms itched to draw her staff.

"She's right," Jenny breathed, stepping close to her. "She's doing her part. We need to do ours and lead the First Order away."

Rey clenched her jaw resolutely, yielding to Jenny's reasoning, and to her very presence. "Right."

"Lovely," Jenny said. "Come along then!"

She turned and dashed across the room.

Rey eyed the satchel curiously for a brief moment, then slung it over her shoulder and tightened it securely place before rushing after Jenny.

…

"The lift will be faster than the stairs!" Jenny shouted to Rey as they ran, leading her to a deserted wing of the castle.

"This place has elevators?" Rey questioned.

"Only a handful," Jenny said. "Good thing Maz gave me the complete tour the last time. Here we are! This one will take us straight to the staircase outside the private hangar."

"I'd prefer for it to take us to the private hangar instead," Rey said.

"Beggars can't be choosers, you know?"

Jenny slapped a circular panel in the wall, made of the same stone as the bricks surrounding it, and a rectangular segment of the wall ground open. Jenny stepped inside.

The moment Rey joined her, Jenny remembered the cramped interiors of the lifts in this place. She and Rey stood shoulder to shoulder, with barely any room.

Jenny looked at Rey, keenly aware of how their panting breaths echoed loudly in the lift capsule and mingled in the meager space between their mouths. She gave Rey her best apologetic smile.

"I didn't plan this, I promise," Jenny said.

Rey rolled her eyes. "Just press the button." She nodded at the control panel inlaid in the wall beside Jenny.

Seconds later the door shut and the lift grumbled shakily upward.

"I hope we make it to the top before this thing drops like a stone," Rey mumbled.

"The price of the shortcut, I reckon," Jenny replied.

Jenny's heart hammered in her chest, and not only from the running or the threat of the First Order. Rey stood so close, the rigid yet supple warmness of her body brushing Jenny's arm and hip. Jenny wanted so badly to hold her, at least for the few moments of peace available to them during their brief journey in the lift.

But Rey had made her choice rather clear in the hallway outside their rooms. Which meant the polite, sensible thing to do was move on and appreciate Rey's friendship and…

...ah, chuck it.

Jenny twisted to face Rey, not shirking when, like she expected, her ample chest pressed into Rey's modest one. Her eyes gazed upward into the eyes of the subtly taller woman. Rey's eyes widened and her face flushed redder.

"Jenny..."

"Rey, listen, I know we've only known each other a couple days, but you are the most incredible thing that's happened to me," Jenny told her. The words had taken days to solidify, but now they pounded for freedom inside her, desperate for release. "Fierce but kind, brave but vulnerable, worn but gorgeous."

Jenny gulped, striving to steady her erratic thoughts into a coherent string. "I'm still learning who I am, my place in the universe." Hell, she hadn't told Rey the half of it. Her father: a time traveler, yes. But Jenny left out the bit about him being an alien, and the cloning machine, and how some days she woke up and wasn't sure if she wanted to be a soldier or a…

…doctor.

"I want you to come with me, help me learn," Jenny continued. "Because, I think you're still figuring out who you are too. You've spent so many nights alone." Her arms wrapped around Rey's waist, almost of their own accord. She pressed her bosom firmly into Rey's, like she could rub their hearts together. "You deserve better," Jenny said. "I don't want you to experience one more lonely midnight in the cold desert. Come with me Rey, to...anywhere! Before, after, in between, doesn't matter if I have you."

Rey peered down at her, and the haunted, sad expression on her countenance nearly caused Jenny's bones to ache. "Jenny, I…I wish I could explain, it's so difficult..."

The next thing Jenny knew, the lift door growled open, revealing a horde of white-armored soldiers staring silently at them.

Behind the soldiers, Jenny could see the stairway leading to the private hangar.

Bloody wonderful, Jenny thought sarcastically.

"Well, can't you see we're having a private discussion?" Jenny told the armored figures.

….

No sooner had Jenny finished quipping to the Stormtroopers than she flew into motion.

Jenny's blaster jumped into view from behind Rey and fired. Rey was surprised to see blue bolts of energy similar to stun bursts dart from its barrel, instead of the salvo she witnessed during the fight with the hound lizards.

The three nearest troopers staggered and then collapsed from the attack, but the row behind them leveled their weapons.

Jenny kept moving.

Rey's jaw dropped as she watched Jenny perform a series of handstands, nimbly springing from hands to feet to hands again, her body arcing end over end.

Jenny landed on her feet in the midst of the troopers' current front line. She downed two of the soldiers with her gun, then holstered it in the blink of an eye.

Rey blinked again, and Jenny had withdrawn two short truncheons, presumably from beneath the leather pads covering her thighs. She swung them into motion, smacking the troopers on either side of her in the joint between their helmets and their chest armor. Rey heard a vibrating purr and saw the troopers shudder and convulse as the truncheons touched them. They staggered back, and Jenny swept their feet from under them with two perfect, powerful swipes of the batons.

Rey's instincts drove her forward in the next instant, moving seamlessly to join Jenny in combat. Her staff was in her hands, and she dropped the blunt tip viciously onto the helmet of the nearest trooper Jenny had just downed. She heard the armor crunch inward satisfyingly.

Rey wasted no time, whopping a trooper in the gut and sending him stumbling backward, then driving the front of her staff into the back of a Stormtrooper who was leveling his blaster at Jenny's head. The trooper tumbled forward, and one of Jenny's truncheons drove his head into the floor.

Rey's years of desperate fighting experienced allowed her to easily read Jenny's movements in a matter of moments and alter her movements to compensate. She flowed beside Jenny, following up each of Jenny's baton strikes with a twist of her staff. Rey descended into the familiar dance of battling for her life.

And the entire time, she heard the oscillating hum from Jenny's truncheons.

Troopers toppled to the ground or slammed into the wall of the hallway in the wake of the two women, until the only Stormtroopers within a three meter radius lay unconscious on the floor. A group of the soldiers massed on either side of the Rey and Jenny, but neither side fired a shot, probably for fear of friendly fire.

And the stairway to the hangar holding Jenny's ship now waited behind the two girls.

Rey and Jenny exchanged knowing glances, then fled up the stone steps, Jenny in the lead.

"Nice fighting!" Jenny called over her shoulder as she bounded up the stairs. "You're a natural!"

Yes, Rey thought in bitter amusement, a natural.

"What are those things?" Rey called to her, pointing at the batons that still hung from her hands.

Jenny grinned cheekily down at her as she ran. "Ultrasonic truncheons. I had a feeling they'd come in handy. I wish I'd been wrong."

"Ultrasonic…," Rey murmured. She decided that Jenny had proved quite resourceful and creative when it came to weaponry. "Why didn't you just shoot them? Why was your blaster on stun?"

Jenny didn't answer right away. "Someone once told me violence isn't always the answer. I'm trying to prove him right."

Rey gripped her staff. "Tell that to someone who was raised on a nowhere planet like mine," she said bitterly.

"And yet," Jenny said between breaths, "you carry a staff instead of a gun or a knife."

"I…," Rey said, surprised. Jenny was correct. "I guess..."

"We're here!" Jenny exclaimed.

They emerged into the hangar. Jenny's rocket ship waited nearby.

"Home free!" Jenny sang. "Come on Rey, time to cause a distraction!"

Rey took a running step forward, and suddenly found herself thrown off her feet. She sailed through the air and her shoulder slammed into the ground, hard. Her staff fell from her hands and clattered across the floor.

She scrambled to her feet and spun around.

And gaped in horrified shock and disbelief as she saw Jenny floating above the floor, hands at her sides and a look of bewilderment on her face.

A familiar helmeted, robed figure strode out of the staircase and into the hangar, gloved hand outstretched in Jenny's direction.

"I am Kylo Ren, master of the Knights of Ren and enforcer of the First Order," the figure's mechanically distorted voice said. "And that ship belongs to me."


End file.
